Neighbourhood Kawachinagano

We understand neighbourhood as a community defined not only by its geographical position but also by the interaction of its habitants. Given that, defining my belonging to one proves rather tricky, for I have lived in two very different environments now, Kawachinagano and Hirakata. During the fall semester I lived with a homestay family in Suehiro-cho, Kawachinagano-shi, and had the opportunity to participate and be envolved in some neighbourhood activities mainly through my family. But I also have interacted, though more briefly and in a more reduced scale, in Hirakata.

Kawachinagano is a very calm, countryside-like city, with a lot of neighbourhood organizations, each one linked to a shrine, with more than five shrines in the area. The first thing I learned about them was how to throw the garbage. The classification system varies from place to place, and it is considered the neighbourhood responsibility to keep the streets clean and have an organised garbage recycling. That is why, my host mother explained to me, there are rarely litter bins in the street, for "no one wants to have a dirty area near their houses", as it would reflect badly on them how the people made use of it. Also, tasks like removing dry leaves from the pathways are also responsibility of the neighbours and the dutie passes from house to house on a weekly basis. As a part of the neighbourhood, even though briefly, I participated too in those duties, often supervised by some passingby おばあさん (obaasan, grandmother, old lady).

This is the river that constitutes the border of the neighbourhood, past this point all you can find for around 3 km is forest.


Perhaps a better example of the construction of the neighbourhood would be the Danjiri Matsuri. It was held in late October in Kawachinagano, and I was able to be envolved in its activities. The Danjiri Matsuri is a festival that need of the community collaboration in order to be done. One of its main activities consists in parading the local Kami-sama, god, in the wooden cart called mikoshi. Since it is all solid wood, its weight makes it impossible to be moved by one person, and this is where the community comes in, for everyone participates in moving the mikoshi. The men carry it  (and are the only ones allowed to get on), while women and children go ahead of it with a rope for directions ( Video ). Also, other non so active participants are all the neighbours who all along the way prepare sancks and drinks for the little breaks that the carriers make on their way through showing the Kamisama where are the boundaries of its area, what is the place that they "protect".

At night, All the different mikoshi are united in a joint display, where all the different communities participate in the same parade, while competing as to which is the better cart, who sins more louldly and etc.  You can watch the video here.

Even as a gaijin, foreigner, they, as often happens in Japan, made me feel very welcome and invited me to participate in it, also sharing its rewards, as when the morning parade ended and all the senior members of the neighbourhood association ( called Nagano, as can be seen in their robes), had prepared flavored ice creams for all the participants.