A qualitative case study on the Swedish Midsummer event in Tobetsu, Japan : An exploratory approach of the perception of the event in regards to the local community and the organizers

The Swedish Midsummer event has been organized and celebrated for several years in Tobetsu inJ apan, especially since the establishment of a sister city relationship with Leksand in Sweden. Yet, there is little to no data or literature on the event as to why Japanese residents chooses to involve the culture of Sweden by organizing such an event annually and what the residents actually perceive of the event This research explores the Swedish Midsummer event in Tobetsu more closely in the formof a case study which involves the organizers and residents. By conducting semi-structured interviews it was clear that the organizers want to highlight the relationship with Sweden, to enable cultural interaction as well as attracting more people to the town due to its decreasing and aging residents. However, some of the residents find the event disturbing while others enjoy it to some degree. As a case study on Tobetsu, this research demonstrates the utilization of a sister city relationship in order to differentiate the town and to nurture the relationship with the other town, in this case being Leksand, on a local level by contextualizing it in a yearly cultural event. The findings of this case study along with the theoretical framework highlights the importance of involving the residents in the organization of the event in order to succeed and reach the goals of Midsummer. In the future, there exists an interesting notion of following up this research, in order to investigate whether the goals of organizing Midsummer in Tobetsu have been fulfilled or not and if and/or how the residents have been involved in the organization process