What creating the reenactment program means

History is indeed breathing within us who live today. Learning about history means not just knowing the past but also gaining in-depth understanding of the present. In addition, when we envision the future, the lessons we learn from the history are highly important.
“Living History” is a project that endeavors to give visitors an understanding of the values of culture and cultural properties that have been passed down to the present and then connect these values to the future by encouraging people to experience living history at the original location. Events that took place are reenacted on the same spot. Doing this requires not only surveying texts and documents but also searching for hints from visual materials such as folding screen paintings and maps, as well as people’s deportments and oral history. Combining these efforts through a process of trial and error, the project gradually builds up reenactments, as if conducting a verification test. This allows visitors to discover the spirit of an age that cannot be communicated only through words, the significance of certain places, and the impact events subsequently had.