Lion Kagura (Shishi-Kagura)

Location: Shitadai, Kyowa-Sakai, Daisen City Site(s) of performance: Karamatsu Shrine and other places in the community Date(s): May 3 (the day of annual festival of Karamatsu Shrine) in the modern calendar and late September in the lunar calendar Designation: City-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishi-Kagura The snake-head kagura is a lion dance performed by […]

Location: Kotaki, Kisakata-machi, Nikaho City Site(s) of performance: Kinpō Shrine and other places in the community Date(s): 2nd Saturday of June (the day of Kinpō Shrine’s annual festival) Category: Shishi-Kagura At Kotaki, the lion head for shishimai (lion dance) is called gohōtō (noble treasure head). It is a Twelve-Number Lion Dance (also called the ‘Noble

Location: Tsuchikawa-Miyabarashi, Daisen City Site(s) of performance: Hakusan Shrine Date(s): April 17 Category: Shishi-Kagura This lion dance is part of kagura dance, and thus is called shishi-kagura (lion kagura dance). At Hakusan Shrine, both dance and music are performed as an offering on April 17 by the priests. It follows the rituals of kagura, including

Location: Izumi-cho, Daisen City Site(s) of performance: The house of the priest of Izusan Shrine, Chōfukuji Temple, and other places in the community Date(s): July 1–14 Designation: City-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishi-Kagura This shishi-kagura is a lion dance with two performers for one lion. It is not a kagura of the Dai-Kagura kind.

Location: Kami-Kosaka, Kosaka Town Site(s) of performance: Former Shinzan Temple at Dewa Shrine Date(s): September 8 Designation: Town-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishi-Kagura This Gongen Dance used to be offered at the vernal and autumnal festivals of Dewa Shrine alternately by the three communities of Kami-Kosaka, Naka-Kosaka, and Shimo-Kosaka. During the Edo era, because

Location: Kawafukuro, Kisakata-machi, Nikaho City Site(s) of performance: Kushi Shrine, Suwa Shrine, and other places in the community Date(s): April 10, 3rd Sunday of May, and June 5 Category: Shishi-Kagura The performance mainly consists of the performance of the Lion Head Dance (also called the Twelve-Number Lion Dance), a kind of shishimai (lion dances). The

Location: Himeno, Nikaho City Site(s) of performance: Kushi Shrine and other places in the community Date(s): Hatsu-uma (i.e., the first Day of the Ox in February) Category: Shishi-Kagura The performance mainly consists of the Lion Head Dance (also called the Twelve-Number Lion Dance), a kind of shishimai (lion dance) on the occasion of the Inari

Location: Konoura, Nikaho City Site(s) of performance: Konoura Shrine Date(s): January 3, February 4 and 11, and August 18 Category: Shishi-Kagura This is a shihimai (lion dance) performed at the annual festival of Konoura-yama Shrine on the first day of spring (the day exactly between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, usually February 4).