Art, folk, and performance in the emerging discourse on Japanese modernity

Geijutsu, the Japanese word for art has received little attention in Japanese folkloristics since the mid-twentieth century. Instead of geijutsu, Japanese scholars speak of geino (performing arts), modifying it with minzoku (folklore or folk). By highlighting the distinction between geijutsu and geino and exploring their discourse within the socio-historical and political context of Japanese modernity, this article reveals the process by which minzoku geino has emerged as a folkloristic category.