Memory and Revitalization of Local Shopping Streets — Focusing on Yamauchi Mariko’s The Glasses and the Prodigal Daughter —

This paper examines Yamauchi Mariko’s The Glasses and the Prodigal Daughter, exploring how the decline and revitalization of provincial shopping districts are literarily represented through memory, structure, and community. Though historically a site of collective memory, the district has degraded into a shrinking space. The memories of Takako, Mayumi, and Shoko-spanning insider, outsider, and returned member perspectives-intersect to drive renewal. This decline aligns with Kinoshita and Iida’s Failure Studies of Regional Revitalization: self-ownership and family labor remove incentives to close, prolonging stagnation, while administrative subsidies target surface-level outcomes. Katagiri’s report acts as a self-critical device, turning constructive intentions into skepticism toward revitalization discourse. The sisters’ contrast highlights gendered dynamics:women marginalized by traditional inheritance emerge as primary agents of renewal. Ultimately, redevelopment physically erases the district; however, Shoko’s pop-up shop continues elsewhere, proving that true revitalization lies in rebuilding human relationships rather than preserving physical spaces.