Re-weaving the Memory of a Mountain Village: The Birth of the Okumikawa Eco-museum (1990s)

Re-weaving the Memory of a Mountain Village: The Birth of the Okumikawa Eco-museum (1990s)

In the 1990s, Japan experienced rapid urbanization and a shift in industrial structure after the end of its period of rapid economic growth, resulting in a serious population decline and a decline in livelihoods in rural mountain villages. Especially in the mountainous areas of Shitara Town, Toei Town, and Toyone Village in Okumikawa, Aichi Prefecture, the combination of sluggish forestry and depopulation made the succession of local culture a major issue. Against this backdrop, the Okumikawa eco-museum concept was born, which redefines the entire region as a "place of life and cultural memory. This concept was deeply connected to the "reexamination of forests and lifestyles" movement that spread nationwide in the 1990s, and emerged as an attempt to reconcile environmental preservation and the revitalization of local culture.

The aim of this concept was to preserve and pass on the nature, mountain village culture, forest resources, and records of people's lives in the Okumikawa region through the hands of the residents themselves. In the eco-museum, scattered natural landscapes, lifestyle techniques, and customs were regarded as "exhibits" of the region, and emphasis was placed on reaffirming the values of the region by uncovering the stories behind the exhibits. Particularly symbolic is the Hana Matsuri in Toei Town. The festival has long been linked to the beliefs of the mountain villages and has continued as a festival that connects the hearts of the people in Okumikawa, where winters are severe. The eco-museum concept has provided an opportunity to systematize activities such as documentation, inheritance, and experiential education, regarding this spiritual culture as the core of the local community.

Another important pillar of the project was to review forest resources. In the 1990s, when the forestry industry was in decline nationwide, and the deterioration of unmanaged planted forests was becoming a problem, research and practice to reconstruct the relationship between forests and daily life was promoted in Okumikawa. Residents took the initiative in passing on mountain work skills, promoting the use of local timber, and engaging in satoyama conservation activities, fostering a movement to reintroduce forests as "fields for daily life. These activities were in line with the eco-museum philosophy, and developed as community development that integrates natural and cultural resources.

The Okumikawa eco-museum concept was not merely a tourism promotion measure, but functioned as a social device for residents to recount the history, festivals, forests, and life skills of the region and hand them over to the future. The Okumikawa initiative became a model for the revitalization of mountain villages in the 1990s, and has continued to influence subsequent regional cultural policies and forestation movements.