A Future for Tradition: Cultural Preservation and Transmission on Taketomi Island, Okinawa, Japan - Island Futures: Conservation and Development Across the Asia-Pacific Region - page 151

suggested (Oohashi 2003 ). The future participants of the dedication performances
begin to learn Yaeyama rhythm and Okinawan scale (which is a hemitonic penta-
tonic scale) in their childhood.
More than 80 performing arts are practiced during the seventh and eighth days
of Tanadhui Festival. Nowadays, many islanders depend on tourism for their eco-
nomic livelihoods, but almost all tourism activities stop during this 2-day festival.
Every islander is quite occupied because he or she has to play several different roles
in the festival, as a member of a ceremony, a manager, an art-performer, a watch, a
cook, or in some other role.
People who were born on Taketomi Island but now live away from the island
return to play some essential roles in the festivals according to their cohort, espe-
cially on the anniversary of their zodiac sign (that is, every 12th year). The respon-
sibility for celebrating the festival is accepted gradually, from childhood into
adulthood, whether resident on the island or living elsewhere, and establishes and
confirms their strong identification as Taketomi Islanders. Those who join the
Tanadhui Festival experience the soul-stirring passion and the sense of solidarity
amongst the participants. The energy, which has passed down from generation to
generation, holds them all in the circle of humanity, local solidarity and collective
identity. Taketomi Islanders believe that, even if they have left Taketomi to study or
work, those who learned the dances and dramas in their childhood will return to the
islands as surely as salmon return to the river where they born.
Preservation Associations
This small community of islanders is without dispute a main actor in cultural
preservation and transmission, but not the only one. The National Association for
the Preservation of the Culture of Taketomi Island (NAPCOTI) was established in
1997, linking islanders with outside communities of writers, researchers and
administrators. Its doors are open not only to islanders and specialists, but also to
anyone interested in the Taketomi Island culture. NAPCOTI also established the
Non-Profit Organization Takidhuon in 2002 to help Taketomi islanders in several
direct ways. In collaboration with tourists and tourism companies, they work
together to secure a thriving and dynamic island community that can pass on its
invaluable cultural heritage to future generations.
The spiritual basis of Taketomi Islanders is called utsugumi , meaning perfect
harmony. In the words of Nishitou, a politician and administrator who was born in
Taketomi Island in the late fifteenth Century:
Kashikusaya Utsugumi dhou Masaru
Cooperation is superior to wisdom.
Utsugumi sets high expectations and calls for the islanders to maintain high public
spirits in order to support and retain their beautiful cultural landscape and their
continuing dedication to the performing arts (Karimata 2005 ).