Social challenges of spatial planning for outdoor cat management in Amami Oshima Island, Japan

Outdoor cats pose substantial threats to native biodiversity, especially on islands. However, cats also provide benefits to people, such as companionship and the killing of pests. Thus, management of outdoor cats is controversial and can lead to conflicts among stakeholders. Although previous studies have examined stakeholders' preferences for outdoor cats and their management, little is known about the differences in their attitudes toward cat occurrences and management across habitats. Identifying these attitudinal differences would provide useful knowledge for policy makers about zoning management. We conducted structured interviews with residents in Amami Oshima Island, Japan, to evaluate the residents' attitudes to outdoor cats' occurrence and their management across habitats (Forest, Rural, and Town areas). Furthermore, we compared the attitudes of cat- owners and non-owners. The results show that the Forest was least preferred as an outdoor cat habitat. Lethal options as a management strategy were unacceptable to the residents, whereas adoption was acceptable in all areas. Cat-owners showed a significantly higher acceptance toward outdoor cats in Town and Rural areas than did non-owners; they also showed a lower acceptance of lethal options and a higher acceptance toward Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR) than non-owners. These findings imply that it is difficult to achieve consensus regarding outdoor cat management, especially in town and rural areas; however, outdoor cats from these areas move to the forests and pose a threat to the endangered species. Communication efforts with both cat-owners and non-owners should fill these attitudinal gaps among stakeholders and lead to effective management. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Detailed observation of subgrained/aggregated sillimanite enclosed in garnet by cathodoluminescence imaging and Raman spectroscopy

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OG] Polar Geosciences, Wed. 4 Dec. / 3F Seminar room, National Institute of Polar Researc

民俗芸能の継承と伝承組織の変容 ―比婆荒神神楽を支える「名」に注目して―

民俗芸能は、いかにして継続的に執行され続けられるのだろうか。本稿では、こうした命題を、芸能が伝承される地域社会の変動に応じ、従来の祭祀組織、信仰、儀礼を変容させて民俗芸能の存続を図ってきた、地域の人々の工夫に注目して考察を行っていく。事例としては、広島県庄原市東城町・西城町に伝承される「比婆荒神神楽」を扱う。この地域には、「本山三宝荒神」を祀るための「名」という組織があり、「名」は神職と神楽社を招き、「名」毎に異なる七年・一三年・一七年・三三年に一度の式年で、四日四夜にわたる「大神楽」を行ってきた。大規模な式年の「大神楽」は、多大な資金や人足が必要であり、「名」中の力を結集して行われる大事業である。そのため「大神楽」の存続には、「名」が経済的・労務的な負担などを負えるかどうかが、大きな影響を与えた。生業・生活の変化や人口流出といった、近現代における地域社会の大きな変化による伝承の危機に直面した時、「名」は、どのような工夫・変化をして、荒神祭祀を続けてきたのだろうか。東城町・西城町におけるいくつかの事例を見てきた結果、「大神楽」を続けていくために地域が選んだ工夫には、「名」の【合同】・【合祀】・【再編】という三つの方法があった。まず、数軒から一〇数軒の家によって構成される小規模な「名」が、いくつか【合同】し、共同で「大神楽」を執行する方法がある。また、村内の小規模な「名」それぞれで祀られていた「本山三宝荒神」を、すべて村氏神社の境内に【合祀】する地区もあった。さらに、西城町八鳥地区では、「組」という組織を基礎単位にして、村を代表する一つの大きな「名」と「本山三宝荒神」が新たに創出された。その過程では、もともと関係のない村氏神社の祭祀に、「本山三宝荒神」の祭祀を組み込むなど、地域の祭祀体系と「名」の【再編】が行われた。以上の【合同】・【合祀】・【再編】という工夫に共通していたのは、従来の小規模な「名」から、より大きい「地区（村）」へ荒神祭祀の執行主体を変更させることで、「大神楽」に参加する軒数を増やし、一軒当たりの費用・労務負担の軽減を図るということである。村全体で「平等」に、負担を「少なく」して「大神楽」を実施するという原則は、祭場の変化や費用負担の方式など、「大神楽」の執行形態を変更させることにもつながった。この変化により、高度経済成長期以降の生業の変化、人口流出といった大きな危機にも対応できた。その一方、平等化を推し進めた結果、かつて「大神楽」が持っていた村落内身分の再生産、富の再分配の場という機能は、失われることとなった。How are folk performing arts passed down from generation to generation? In this paper, I will consider this question with reference to the various strategies used by people from the local community in response to social change.This paper will take as a case study of the Hibakojin Kagura, a kind of o-kagura performed in the towns of Saijo and Tojo in Shobara, Hiroshima Prefecture. In this region of Japan, there are religious service organizations called myo, responsible for putting on huge festivals called o-kagura. These o-kagura engender a significant economic burden for the myo, and recent social changes have made this burden harder and harder to bear. In this paper, I ask how, with the o-kagura threatened in this way, they managed to ensure its continuation.From the cases observed in this study, it seems that the strategies employed for keeping up the o-kagura fall into three types, namely: mergers of religious organizations, collective enshrinement, and the restructuring of ritual organizations.First, with the mergers, some religious service organizations or myo merged with one another, enabling them to perform the religious festivals together.The second measure observed is that of collective enshrinement. In order to ensure the o-kagura continues, the individual deities of each myo were all enshrined together in a common local tutelary shrine.The third way identified was the restructuring of the religious organization. First of all, a greater organization was created to unify the smaller units that had existed before, and a restructuring of the local festival system carried out simultaneously. As a result of these changes, the village had for the first time a deity which all its people worshipped.What the above three methods all have in common is creating an increase in the number of participants in the o-kagura festivals, thus reducing the cost and burden per house. The principle on display here of putting on o-kagura with an emphasis on “equality” across the whole village and creating the “minimum possible” burden also led a change to the form that the festivals took. This change meant the villages were able to continue holding the festivals in spite of major obstacles such as people’s changes in occupation and the outflow of population from the region, both the results of advanced economic development. Meanwhile, as a result of increasing emphasis on equality, some of the original functions of o-kagura, such as reconfirming the statuses of people within the village and redistributing wealth, were lost

比婆荒神神楽の近代 ―新たな執行体制の成立と稼ぎとしての神楽―

本稿は、比婆荒神神楽の伝承者が、明治から第二次大戦終戦までの近代をどのように生き、現在まで神楽を伝えてきたのかを明らかにする論考である。本稿では、政治経済や社会動向など、地域社会の外部から伝承者に与えられた影響に注目して考察を行う。広島県庄原市東城町・西城町の神主と明治以降に農民たちにより結成された神楽社は、比婆荒神神楽を伝承している。神楽の執行に伴う経済的側面に注目して神楽を捉えると、執行者にとって神楽は、祭料やお花など収入を得ることができる稼ぎの手段でもあった。近世期のこの地域では、神職たちが郡毎に神楽組を結成し、独占的に神楽を執行しており、一般家庭出身の者が神楽を舞うことはなかった。こうした状況は、明治新政府が実行した新たな宗教政策により変化し、一般家庭出身の村人たちが新たに神楽団を結成して神楽を舞うことが可能になった。その後、明治の中頃から、国家の宗祀たる神社に奉職する神職は神楽を舞うべきではないという意見が強く主張されるようになる。また、地域の基幹産業であったたたら製鉄の不振という産業構造の変化があり、都市部への住民の流出も始まった。このような状況下で、産業に乏しい山間地域で暮らす農民たちは、冬季の出稼ぎとして積極的に神楽を舞い始めた。その結果、神楽における神事舞を神職、遊興的な能舞を神楽社が担当する近代的な執行体制が構築された。こうした執行体制のなかで、近世まで独占的に神楽を執行してきた神職たちは、明治時代の新たな宗教政策に応じた神楽の組織・規約を構築することで、神職たちが保持していた神楽に関する諸権利の維持を図っていた。また、近代の歴史を見てきた結果判明したのは、神楽の伝承者たちが、自分たちが伝承する神楽を、時代の文脈や価値観に即して意義付け、変化させながら伝えてきた複雑な過程である。比婆荒神神楽は、神職たちから模範的と称賛され、天皇制と結びついた国家の神話を演ずる「神代」の神楽という正当性を得ることが出来た。伝承者たちは、こうした「模範的神代神楽」というブランドイメージを武器に、引率者である神職が有していた人脈や聖蹟顕彰運動などを利用して、出張公演を盛んに行っていた。このような民俗芸能を「資源化」する試みは、すでに戦前から始まっていた。以上の考察より、比婆荒神神楽の地域社会における「民俗的」な側面ばかりを強調してきた先行研究者たちは、地元の外へ積極的に進出を試みていた近代の姿を見てこなかったことが理解されるだろう。本稿は、こうした研究史上の欠落を補うという意義を有している。This paper discusses the modern performance of the traditional form of entertainment, Hibakojin Kagura, during the period from the Meiji era (1868–1912) through to the end of World War Two. It will focus particularly on influences from outside the community, such as political and economic factors and social trends.Hibakojin Kagura has been passed down through the generations by Shinto priests and villagers in Saijo-cho and Tojo-cho in Shobara-shi, Hiroshima Prefecture. Those performing kagura in a festival context are also financially rewarded, through service fees and flowers made as offerings to the gods. Therefore, it can be said that for performers, these kagura festivals are an occasion for earning money.During the Edo era (1603–1868), only Shinto priests were permitted to perform kagura in this area of the country. This situation changed under the policy of the Meiji government. From that time on, farmers from ordinary families began to perform kagura.Subsequent to this policy change, around the middle of the Meiji period, it came to be commonly believed that Shinto priests should not perform kagura. Furthermore, there were changes in the industrial structure of the area, which contributed to an outflow of residents to urban areas. Under these circumstances, the farmers living in mountainous areas where agricultural possibilities were limited, began travelling to perform kagura as a way of making money during the winter months.As a result, a modern system was created in which the Shinto priests were in charge of ceremonial duties, and farmers were in charge of entertaining. This arrangement was a way of ensuring that the priests, who had held the monopoly over kagura performances until early modern times, continued to maintain the various rights related to kagura.In modern times, the performers of Hibakojin Kagura handed the artform down through generations, while altering it to ensure it remains meaningful according to the context and values of the times. As a result, Hibaku Kagura became praised as ‘exemplary’ by priests, and legitimized as a form of Jindai Kagura, a name reserved for schools of kagura performing national myths associated with the Emperor System. Drawing upon this ‘legitimacy’, Hibakojin Kagura performers began to take frequent trips to other areas of Japan, making the most of the connections which the priests had accumulated and the authorization of the imperial mausoleums. These attempts to utilize folk performing arts as a cultural resource began even before the start of the Second World War

中近世における地方神職の組織と階層 ―備後奴可郡の事例―

本稿では、備後奴可郡（現広島県庄原市東城・西城町）における神職の中世末から近世にかけての歴史的変遷を明らかにするとともに、奴可郡における神職の組織・階層について論じた。その結果、中世から近世への時代変化が、奴可郡の神職にいくつかの変転を起こさせたことが判明した。その一つが、神職としての立場を保障する方法の変化である。中世末の備北地方における社役の安堵は、備後一宮において開催される座直りへの出席と、在地領主からの宛行状の発行により行われていた。その後近世になると、京都の吉田家から神道裁許状を取得するようになる。こうした変化に伴い、神職の職名・立場を表す言葉として「太夫」という言葉が公の資料に現れることはなくなり、吉田家から取得した官途・受領名が名乗られるようになった。二つ目は、中世に淵源を持つと考えられる備後国一宮の権威や機能の変化である。近世初期には、一宮の祭祀組織の再編、広島藩と福山藩という二つの政治体制の構築、近世中期以降には、京都吉田家による備後国内の神職支配の拡大が起こった。これにより、備後国内の神職に対する一宮の影響力が低下する。その結果、備後国内の広島藩領の神職は、藩内神職の惣頭役を務める広島城下の社家野上氏の統制下に入ることになり、広島藩の支配をより強く受けるようになった。三つ目は、奴可郡における神職組織の在り方の変化である。中世末には、在地領主が広大な領地の産土社（鎮守社）を定め、神職を任じ、祭祀を経済的に支えていた。その後、中世末の在地領主の領土が近世の村切りにより分割されることで、かつての在地領主の領地と一致する広い氏子圏を持つ社格の高い大氏神と、一つの近世村を氏子圏とする小宮が生まれたと思われる。近世初期には、郡内に数社存在する「大氏神」を単位として、共同で神事を執行する神職組織がいくつか形成されていた。その後近世中期になると、吉田家の影響により広島藩の神職組織が整備され、その末端として「郡」を単位とする神職組織が新たに形成される。こうした近世の奴可郡において神社祭祀に関わる者の間には、吉田家から神道裁許状を取得し祭祀を担当する「吉田殿裁許の官」と、日常神社の管理を担った「鍵取（地神主）」の違いがあった。さらに、「吉田殿裁許の官」の間には、大宮の社家（幣頭）／小宮の社家（一本幣）／抱えの小宮を持つ下社家／抱えの小宮を持たず裁許状を取得していない下社家という、中世以来の家格に基づく階層があった。In this paper, the authors elucidate the historical transition from the end of the medieval period to the early modern era in Bingo Nuka County (currently Tojo-cho, Saijo-cho in Shobara-shi, Hiroshima Prefecture) and discuss the organization and hierarchy of the Shinto priests. It was determined that the change from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern era brought about certain changes regarding Shinto priests.The first change concerned the method of guaranteeing the position as a priest. At the end of the Middle Ages, certification of the position was issued by attendance at a religious festival held at the Bingo Ichinomiya Shrine and the issuance of an address letter from the local lords. Later. in the early modern era, Shinto court letters were acquired from the Yoshida family in Kyoto.The second change concerns the authority and functions of the Bingo Ichinomiya Shrine, which is thought to have originated during the Middle Ages. In the early modern era, the influence of Ichinomiya on Shinto priests diminished. Instead, the priests of the Hiroshima domain in Bingo began to be dominated by the Hiroshima domain.The third change regards organization of the priesthood in Nuka County. In the beginning of the early modern era, several Shinto organizations that jointly conducted Shinto rituals were formed for each Ooujigami (dominant shrine) in the county. Subsequently, in the middle of the early modern era, the hierarchical organization of Shinto priests in the Hiroshima domain was reorganized under the influence of the Yoshida family and subsidiary organizations for the respective counties were newly formed.Among those involved in shrine rituals in modern Nuka county were Yoshida Donosaikyonokan who obtained a license from the Yoshida family and conducted rituals, and Kagitori who managed the shrine on a daily basis. Furthermore, there was a hierarchy among Yoshida Donosaikyonokan based on family status since the Middle Ages

Modulation effects of the intact motor skills on the relationship between social skills and motion perceptions in children with autism spectrum disorder : A pilot study

Background: An individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has social skill, motor skill, and motion perception deficits. However, the relationship among them was not clarified. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of motor skills on social skills and motion perception.Methods: Five typically developed children and fourteen children with ASD participated in our study. The N200 component, a brain activity indicating motion perception, was induced in mid-temporal (MT/V5) brain area by watching a random dot kine-matograph, and was recorded using a scalp electroencephalogram. Furthermore, the social responsiveness scale (SRS) indicating the social skill deficit, the developmental coordination disorder questionnaire (DCDQ) estimating the developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and the movement assessment battery for children second edition (MABC-2) indicating motor skills were recorded in the children with ASD. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the modulation effects of motor skills on the relationship between social skills and motion perception. The dependent variable was the N200 latency, and the inde-pendent variables were SRS, MABC-2, and combined MABC-2 and SRS.Results: The N200 latency was more delayed in children with ASD relative that in typically developed children. Intact balance ability modulated the relationship between social skills and N200 latency in children with ASD. Within the high balance ability, when the social skills worsened, the N200 latency was shortened. Conclusions: This is the first report that intact motor skills could modulate the relationship between social skills and motion perception.(c) 2022 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Extracting proficiency differences and individual characteristics in golfers' swing using single-video markerless motion analysis

In this study, we analyzed golfers' swing movement to extract differences in proficiency and individual characteristics using two-dimensional video data from a single camera. We conducted an experiment with 27 golfers who had a wide range of skill levels, using a 7-iron; we acquired video data with a camera on the sagittal plane. For data extraction, we used pose estimation (using HRNet) and object detection (using DeepLabCut) methods to extract human-joint and club-head data. We examined the relationship between proficiency and individual characteristics vis-à-vis forward tilt angle and club trajectory. The results showed that the stability and reproducibility of the forward tilt angle are characteristics of proficiency. Highly skilled golfers showed low variability and high reproducibility between trials in forward tilt angle. However, we found that club trajectory may not be a characteristic of proficiency but rather an individual characteristic. Club trajectory was divided roughly into clockwise rotation and counterclockwise rotation. Thus, the analysis based on video data from a single markerless camera enabled the extraction of the differences in proficiency and individual characteristics of golf swing. This suggests the usefulness of our system for simply evaluating golf swings and applying it to motor learning and coaching situations