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Cultural Citizenship and Elderly Participation - Possibilities and Paradoxes of Arts-Based Regional Revitalization in Japan-

  • 인문논총
  • 2026, 71(), pp.177~196
  • Publisher : Institute for Human studies, Kyungnam University
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : August 31, 2026
  • Accepted : October 10, 2026
  • Published : October 31, 2026

JUNG-MIN CHO 1,  EUN-JU WOO 1

1국립부경대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study examines the meanings of elderly participation and cultural citizenship in arts-based regional revitalization in Japan. Focusing on the Setouchi Triennale and the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, it explores how older residents participate in cultural and artistic projects and considers the possibilities and limitations embedded in such participation. While previous studies have primarily emphasized tourism development, economic impacts, and place branding, this study focuses on the experiences and roles of older residents living in aging and depopulating communities. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which their memories and experiences of place are transformed into cultural resources and how older residents participate in mediating local histories and identities. From the perspective of cultural citizenship, the study examines participation not simply as labor or volunteer activity, but as a process through which older residents can engage in the production and sharing of communal meanings. The analysis shows that older residents participate in various aspects of arts-based regional revitalization, including the management of artworks, visitor assistance, interpretation of local history, and the transmission of local culture. Their life experiences and memories of place are incorporated into artworks and local narratives, providing opportunities for them to express and share their experiences in the public sphere. In this sense, arts-based regional revitalization offers a space in which the social participation of older adults can be understood in terms of memory, relationships, and recognition rather than solely in terms of economic productivity. At the same time, such participation involves important paradoxes. Opportunities for participation and recognition may also entail new responsibilities and burdens, while residents’ memories and experiences may be valued as cultural resources and simultaneously commodified as tourism content. Moreover, the achievements of cultural and artistic projects do not in themselves resolve the structural problems of population decline and aging. Rather than treating arts-based regional revitalization as a straightforward success story, this study understands it as a social experiment that explores new relationships between older residents and their communities in a super-aged society. It suggests the need to reconsider older adults not merely as resources for regional revitalization, but as cultural citizens who participate in the production, sharing, and transmission of local memories and identities.

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