INDEX
“Awa Ebisu,” an initiative to address the aging population in Ebisu
Takano: Interesting people gather around interesting people, so in that sense, a unique community must have been created.
Takahashi: That is exactly right. I get the sense that Ebisu’s various cultures are born from there.
Takano: I am curious about that. And I hear that you are also working to address the issue of the aging population in Ebisu.
Takahashi: I think this is a problem that exists in every community, but the people who have continued the festival since before the war are getting older and there are fewer successors. After the Corona disaster, even if you ask them to start a festival, they say, “How did we do that?” or “It’s hard to get up the nerve to do it after four years.
We are trying to help them with our “Awa Ebisu” initiative. Our town was originally named Ebisu after the Yebisu Beer factory that was located here 130 years ago. So we created a system where all the proceeds from beer sold at the festival are given back to the festival goers.
Celeina: I usually go to Ebisu, but I didn’t know that topics like inheriting such festivals were becoming an issue, so I’m glad I learned something.
Takano: Now, I am going to send you a song here. I asked Mr. Takahashi to choose a song that we would all like to listen to together on the radio at this time. Please tell us the reason for your song selection.
Takahashi: It was written by someone I am going to introduce later, but since it was the third day of the New Year, I thought we could listen to a Japanese folk song, and it just so happened that two hours after I chose this song, there was an earthquake off the coast of Noto. Coincidentally, this song is from Toyama, so I thought I would like to cheer people up while listening to this song. Tokyo Minyo Club “Kokiriko-Bushi”.
