Mami Yoda and Tomohide Mizuuchi
This study explores the potential of systemic design in community regeneration from disasters through a case study of the revival of the ‘Sunatoribushi Festival’ in Matsunagi, Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, in Japan, which was damaged by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake of January 2024. Systemic design is an approach that works on interrelated social, cultural and spiritual elements, rather than linear and discrete interventions, and is attracting attention as a framework that contributes to improving resilience as a ‘bounce forward’ approach to change and adaptation.
This study qualitatively analysed the design process and content of the festival, which was spontaneously revived as a result of communal life after the disaster, and clarified the following characteristics. First, the festival was not intended for tourism purposes, but functioned as a place of ‘closed yet open’ relationships in which parties from within and outside the community were involved in various ways, while the main purpose was the spiritual ‘reconstruction of connections’ by the affected residents themselves. Second, the production and operation of new symbolic objects, such as ‘portable shrines’ and ‘kirikos’ made from turban shells, represented a sense of sacredness and gratitude in a form different from religious traditions, and played a role in supporting emotional regeneration after the disaster. Third, the new beaches created by the disaster and the setting of the stage at sunset were important as rituals that visually and physically reaffirmed the deep connection with nature and ancestors.
Through these elements, the festival was able to foster resilience on a spiritual and cultural layer, which is different from traditional physical and institutional reconstruction assistance systemic design has provided. This study suggests that ritualistic practices incorporating physical, emotional and aesthetic elements can function effectively as part of systemic design in the post-disaster recovery process. Future comparative studies of similar cases in diverse areas are needed.
Keywords: systemic design, community resilience, traditional festival, disaster recovery, spirituality