The tidy environment in Hirogawara

Abstract

Hirogawara is a village with a long lasting tradition of forestry located in a mountain area of Kyoto prefecture, and is one of the typical under populated villages in the Japanese rural region. Although there are various elements which distinguish the village and urban area, one of the main elements which contribute to differentiate the behavior of each would be the environment surrounding the respective dwellers. The perception of a villager as being a part of a traditional community are formed through constant negotiation between the individual and the tidy environment. His environment in the village can be understood as a kind of aggregation of neighbors and ancestors because boundaries surrounding the villager amongst neighbors and ancestors are constantly blurred by respective inhabitants including by him. Thus, the environment starts to have multiple meanings by being shared by various actors including outsiders. The current environment of the village is persistently reproduced through the villagers’ process of negotiation in the complex situation under globalization.