Today, I would like to talk about museums in local communities. What do you imagine when you think of a museum? For example, the Onnason Museum in Okinawa Prefecture has a zone dedicated to traditional life unique to Okinawa, exhibits that convey exchanges across the sea in prehistoric times, and a theme that includes the harsh experiences of the Battle of Okinawa.
Yokkaichi City Museum in Mie Prefecture introduces the pollution that occurred in Yokkaichi City in the 1950s, an overview of Yokkaichi Asthma, and the history of the people who fought to overcome it. The theme of Iki City Ikikoku Museum in Nagasaki Prefecture is Ikikoku, which appears in the Gishiwajinden. A large model is used to recreate the capital of Ikikoku and the way of life of the people.
As you can see, each museum has a completely different theme. However, they all have one thing in common: they edit local materials. They focus on the history, culture, and natural environment that the region has accumulated, refining them into something more meaningful and valuable.

Local museums also have another role: to create local resources. Take the Aoto Toba Museum in Toba City, Mie Prefecture. This is an outdoor museum run by the Toba City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has taken four districts as its main museum. One of these districts, Osatsu, is a small fishing town known for its large number of female divers.
So the local people traced back memories of the past faith in Ishigami-san and revived the local culture that had been forgotten. This Ishigami-san has become known as a power spot that grants women's wishes, in the faith associated with female divers' culture, and attracts many female worshippers from all over the country.
This is not a fantasy, but a recreation of the memory that such a belief actually existed. What is important here is that the local people have edited and created the area from their own perspective.
If it attracts people, it will generate economic activity and lead to the revitalization of the local area. By thinking about a local museum, we can open up the future of the local area. I think that there is great significance in being involved in this.

This may be a bit sudden, but is there anything that scares you? As humans, we are social animals that form groups (communities) with members of the same category, and so we tend to fear the unknown and those that are different from ourselves.
And in most cases, the reason we feel scared is not because of the other person, but because of stereotypes that we ourselves have imagined.
For example, when we hear that someone is half-Japanese, we assume that they are fluent in English, and we worry about public safety as the number of foreign workers increases. However, in reality, facts and categorical perceptions and interpretations are not always the same. For example, there are restaurants where people line up.
Japanese people tend to think of it as a popular restaurant, but some people overseas may see it as an inefficient restaurant. In other words, our preconceptions are not based on a proper understanding of others, but are merely a collective subjective view based on the local perspective of the culture and society in which we happened to be born and raised.
"Because everyone around you believes something, you have to go along with it." I think that this kind of village-like situation still exists in Japan. However, I think that this kind of judgment-first, irresponsible, same-sex mentality runs the risk of leading to the collapse of communities and even various social problems.

During the war, many villagers in Yomitan Village, Okinawa, shut themselves in their caves, but in those caves, people who used distorted judgment and feared American soldiers committed horrific mass suicides. On the other hand, in one cave, a villager who happened to be returning from Hawaii calmed the panicked villagers and negotiated with the American military, saving the lives of 1,000 people.
Whether a group can make use of diversity is a matter of light and shadow. What is truly important is to think for yourself and understand properly, without being misled by the collective subjectivity that others take for granted. Diversity can be transformed into nourishment for community revitalization through mutual understanding with unknown and different others. Creating such an inclusive, understanding-first, outward-looking community.
This is the essence of university education, and I believe it is a major challenge for the new School of College of Community Studies. First of all, let's all share the goal of creating a vibrant community, and start by building a relaxed relationship of trust and collaboration among our diverse members.
The unknown and different are wonderful encounters that broaden our narrow world. I hope that you will hone your intellectual courage to face anyone, no matter who they are.