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Currently, the need for a mechanism to pass local history and culture to subsequent generations is increasing. Abe (2016) described the importance of a mechanism to conserve and utilize local history. He also stated that the ability to protect local historical materials is rapidly weakening nationwide. It is becoming increasingly difficult to pass regional history and culture to subsequent generations due to depopulation, the declining birthrate, and the aging population.
Personal memories, experiences, traditions, etc. are referred to as personal culture (Valsiner, 2007). Collective culture has accumulated personal culture, and personal culture and collective culture interact via “narrative,” which is information with a story structure and the passage of time (Saito, 2008). Unique regional narratives contribute to the maturity of local residents’ sense of self and community awareness, and help sustaining the region. Culture classification and narrative are shown in Figure 1. However, unique regional narratives and local knowledge are not fragmented and shared, and the system to pass cultural knowledge to subsequent generations insufficient (Science Council of Japan, 2010). Meanwhile, with recent developments in information technology, for of collecting, storing, distributing, and analyzing various types of information have seen rapid development. The authors believe that it is necessary to accumulate, analyze, and disseminate local knowledge using such technologies.
Figure 1. Culture classification and narrative
Augmented Reality (AR) technology is attracting increasing attention due to the spread of mobile terminals, e.g., smartphones. AR technology superimposes digital information onto real-world views to expand reality. In other words, AR can reproduce an event. AR technology is increasingly applied to conservation and utilization of history and culture. Nakano et al. (2017) developed an AR application that superimposed old photographs onto modern landscapes to effectively create a virtual experience of past scenery. Using AR technology, it has become possible to reproduce and superimpose stories related to the past and areas onto current landscapes. From this, AR technology can also be considered narrative. In other words, by using old maps and AR technology, it is possible to effectively collect and reduction local knowledge. By accumulating and inheriting local knowledge via narrative, it is possible to support the protection and reconstruction of culture. However, the utilization of local knowledge and old maps is limited due to the limited space in museum exhibits.
The Basic Plan of History and Culture formulated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs defines a policy to comprehensively preserve and utilize cultural properties existing in the region (The Agency for Cultural Affairs, 2013 and 2019). This basic plan is expected to be utilized to contribute to regional development through the use of cultural properties. Currently, many local governments have formulated the basic plan of history and culture (Otaru City, 2019; Morioka City, 2011; Utsunomiya City, 2018; Maizuru City, 2018; Fukuoka City; 2019).
In this study, the authors developed a local knowledge inheritance system using historical data such as old maps, oral history, and lore that are possessed by the Hitachi City Museum in Japan. However, the local knowledge inheritance system can be applied to any city in the world with historical data.