Participatory digital archives with senses: looking at local culture from multiple voices and voices unheard

Facing the highest aging population in Japan, Akita exemplifies the critical threat to folk culture across rural Japan. While efforts have been made to digitize high culture, local, informal folk practices—defined as expressive culture experienced in small groups—are often overlooked, and empirical methods for archiving them are scarce. This research analyzes a sustainable digital archive model focused on Tohoku folk culture. Using a mixed-methods approach, including sensory ethnography and 29 semistructured interviews collected in Akita (2023–2025), the study investigates three key aspects: (1) emphasizing direct informant voices and interdisciplinary collaboration in archive design; (2) implementing and re-analyzing the resulting model; and (3) proposing a sustainable system, the Tohoku Digital Archive. The report examines the significance of ritual presentation in digital spaces, questioning the screen’s capacity to convey embodied experiences. It addresses the challenge of balancing divergent informant interpretations and determining which voices should be prioritized in the archive, ultimately aiming to improve the local educational environment and preserve the authentic, lived essence of rural culture for future generations.