Framing climate risk: the role of local and international media in reporting on Japan’s omiwatari ice tradition

Abstract This study examines how local media in Japan report on the risks of climate change through the lens of a cultural tradition, focusing on the Shinto ritual of omiwatari in Nagano Prefecture. Omiwatari celebrates ice ridges on Lake Suwa that are believed to be the footprints of a local deity, but are increasingly threatened by warming winters. By analyzing online news articles from Japanese and international media, supplemented by fieldwork and interviews with local journalists, the research highlights contrasting media frames. International media emphasize the disappearance of the ice ridges as a symbol of global climate change, aiming to promote broader awareness and mitigation efforts. In contrast, Japanese national and local media focus their coverage on the observations of the shrine community and predict the formation of the ridges without framing these changes in the context of climate change. Despite this divergence, the resilience of omiwatari storytelling offers opportunities to adapt the tradition to changing environmental challenges, preserving cultural continuity even as its iconic ice ridges fade.