Development of the arena society and its discontent in terms of regional festival : a case study of oizumi-machi as liberdade of japan

Implications of the arena society are available for contemporary spatial relationships with rural communities. Rural communities in Oizumi-machi are considerably changed by manufacturing location and many residents from overseas, whose majority are Brazilians of Japanese ancestry. In our discussion, we tried to identify the arena society in Oizumi-machi. and to make clear its discontent through the operation of regional festivals between old residents and new residents from overseas. Since the later 1980s, Brazilians of Japanese ancestry have lived in this region and built up their new community as Liberdade of Japan. This community has been virtually accepted by native communities in spite of the isolation from and the friction with them. A set of their acceptance has been symbolically reflected on the participation of a samba parade in Oizumi Festival, and Brazilians of Japanese ancestry have confirmed their identity of both Liberdade and Oizumi-machi through the festival. This acceptance was based on the diversity and flexibility of the festival, and this fact suggested a characteristic of the arena society as the open society. In the arena society, a borderless space is formed with diversity, flexibility and mobility, and community organisations have their functional effect on larger areas than each community territory. Although a samba parade was most popular among festival attractions, native communities and their residents have had their discontent in greater or lesser degree