Rice-growing rites and folklore of the Yaeyama Islands

The author's many years of fieldwork into the rice-growing rituals that are at the core of the folk culture of the Yaeyama Islands has come to fruition here!

This book is a compilation of the folkloric research results of Shigeru Ishigaki, chairman of the Yaeyama Culture Research Association, over the course of many years. In the first chapter, Ishigaki delves deeper into the "Inagatane Ayo" handed down in each region, revealing that there once existed a "seed-picking ritual" in its original meaning that has been forgotten today. In addition, the book contains a wealth of valuable traditional records, sacred songs, speeches, and prayers, all of which are the result of painstaking fieldwork. Another feature is that it faithfully records the differences in pronunciation of the same folk terminology in each region of the island. It also includes an index of approximately 1,500 items. We highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Yaeyama folklore.

Shigeru Ishigaki

Born in 1937 in Shiraho, Ishigaki City.
Graduated from Okinawa Prefectural Yaeyama High School. Graduated from Nihon University Correspondence Course, Faculty of Literature and Science, Department of Literature (Japanese Literature). Immediately after graduating from high school, he became a teacher and worked at elementary, middle and high schools in the Yaeyama area before retiring.
September 1969: Founded the Yaeyama Local Culture Research Society
1992: Yaeyama County Athletics Association Sports Achievement Award (Athletics)
In 2003, he was appointed as an S-class certified referee by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (Chairman: Yohei Kono).
In the same year, he received the Yaeyama Mainichi Cultural Award.
2007: Ishigaki City Government Merit Award (Cultural Section)
As of 2017, he is the chairman of the Yaeyama Culture Research Association.

Author: Shigeru Ishigaki Publisher: Nanzansha Publication date: May 18, 2017 Format: A5 (boxed hardcover)
Number of pages: 580 Number of copies: Limited to 600