Abstract: All communities have traditions, cultural practices that have been handed down from one generation to the next. But traditions are never static and each generation must negotiate a desire for continuity with a need for change. This talk will introduce two "visiting deity rituals," Namahage of Akita Prefecture and Toshidon of Kagoshima Prefecture, and discuss how local communities work to creatively use these traditions as cultural resources to attract tourists while at the same time struggling to preserve what they see as the integrity of the rituals themselves. Faced with a rapid decline in the number of children, an aging population and related economic issues, how do these rural communities negotiate the function and "authenticity" of their traditions with the needs of their current situation?