Abstract:

From the 1970s to 1990s, urban folkloristics was a hot topic in the field of Japanese folkloristics. It attempts to investigate traditional cities, urban sacrificial rites, urban legends, apartment blocks and residential areas, etc. on the one hand and explore the urban life of ordinary people from the perspective of personal history and individual experience on the other. Such attempts are still significant today. In today's society, the dual structure of urban and rural areas has broken up, and the phenomena such as globalization and informatization have been in full swing. However, this does not mean that folklorists can turn a blind eye to urban space, urban society and the life of urban people. On the contrary, it is necessary for us to go beyond the previous research paradigms and to explore new paradigms, theories and methods by discussing the folkloric urban studies, so as to explore the direction and problems of modern folkloristics. In this sense, cities are the "laboratories" for the development and transformation of folkloristics, and also the key to the shift to modern folkloristics.

Key words: urban folkloristics, Japan, modern folkloristics