Higashi-Kujo Madang— Cultural activities

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The ritual beginning of the first Higashi-Kujo Madang in 1993was heralded by the entry of the Han-Madang dance troup. This marked the beginning of a long afternoon of cultural and social activity.

The afternoon was also filled with activities that were cultural presentations, and opportunities for participation by a variety of ages. There was an ongoing sale of Korean and festival foods: barbecued meats, cotton candy, fried noodles, Korean pancakes (shijimi: a batter of bean flour with many spices and french onions [negi] fried and served with a special sauce [a Korean variant on Tonkatsu sauce]), tako yaki (fried octopus “hushpuppies”), cakes and cookies, and of course, several varieties of homemade kimchi (Korean cabbage pickle), and juices and coffee—but no alcoholic beverages. The food stalls, and other stalls that sold Korean handicrafts, or books, or shoes, or other clothing, were run by local Higashi-kujo organizations¹ who paid a small fee for the space, and collected the proceeds as a way to raise money. Organizations of both North and South Koreans, church groups, school groups, Japanese buraku organizations: the list of groups operating the demise [stalls] showed the breadth of cooperation that the Madang organizers had assembled.

The signal food of a Korean event in Japan is yakiniku (barbecued meat). And there was plenty of barbecue at the Madang.
Photo by author

The amount of money raised in this fashion was usually modest (a few hundred dollars US), but there was also an opportunity to network with other groups and to advertise the organization’s operation and goals.

The problem of how to allow, and yet not encourage, and still avoid conflict among persons who wanted to offer political books and pamphlets (with a broad range of sentiments) was settled at an executive meeting by providing one large table without any payment, letting first-come first-served space, and encouraging cooperation between participants.

A variety of books about the Resident Korean situation in Japan, about the history of Koreans in Japan, and about other matters that are of political concern for residents in Higashi-kujo are sold at a table provided free—and unmonitored— by the organizers.

Many of these books are not readily available in area bookstores (sometimes because of their small audience), and so the Madang creates an arena where marginalized ideas can be brought to public view. Disputatious discussions were not encouraged at the Madang, as this space was described as a politically neutral ground—a de-politicized zone—open to all ideas, but not available to an attempt to monopolize the space of discussion. There was also few announcements with any political content—these few were reserved to applaud the cooperation of various institutions, including the City and the regional neighborhood associations, and the PTA, and the school, and its principal, etc.

making rope

Woman’s voice on the video:
“...I can’t do this!”
“...It’s a part of the rural lifestyle.”
“...Lots of people can’t do this now.”

In a matter of minutes contestants wove ropes several meters long using only their hands and straw. This is a reminder too of the rapid pace of urbanization in Japan and Korea, and the differences in memories and lifestyle skills between older members of the community and its young adults.

One of the activities that fascinated many people at the event was a contest where individuals made ropes from straw. This skill, which harkens back to an agricultural past in the lives of many older, first-generation resident Koreans.

There is no sport in Japan that is more coded as uniquely and even sacrally “Japanese” than sumo wrestling. The seasonal grand sumo matches are broadcast only on state television, and employ a panoply of religious symbolism. That Koreans do sumo differently, and that their sumo may be as old a practice as the Japanese form, is a feature of Korean society and history that many Japanese may not be aware of, or may not choose to accept.

Other activities, such as a great tug-o-war, were designed to include as many people as possible. While other activities were included to show Korean variants on practices that are locally coded as “real-Japanese:” such as Sumo Wrestling (ssirum in Korean) and karaoke.

The standing teeter totter dance/jump is a Korean practice (called noruteigi in Kyoto Korean) performed by women only. The story about this practice in pre-modern Korea includes noting that the vertiginous thrills of this activity were apparently enhanced by the view that the height provided over the walls of compounds where women were sequestered. It became a momentary, visual escape from the woman’s domestic enclave.

Still other activities highlighted Korean cultural practices with marked cultural value: such as Taekwondo martial arts, and the sight of two women jumping in turns on a seesaw.

The penultimate event at the Madang was the Madang drama, and so let’s turn now to this, the centerpiece of the entire event.

¹One of the complaints made by the neighborhood organization was the impact of the food and good sales on commercial enterprises in the neighborhood. This type of complaint, as far as I know, is not commonly made about Shinto or City-run festivals, although there the food stalls are mostly run by professionals from other cities who make a donation to the local Shrine. Many of the vendors at the Higashi-kujo Madang operate as non-profit organizations within local buraku areas, and so the moneys will go to benefit those living in buraku districts.