Shishimai and Bangaku

Location: Hirane, Kami-Kawauchi, Chōkai-machi, Yuri-Honjo City Site(s) of performance: Hachiman Shrine and other places in the community Date(s): May 15 and August 15 Designation: State-Designated Important Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishimai and Bangaku The name of Honkai Bangaku comes from the name of the priest Honkai, a shugen (Buddhist ascetic) of the 17th century […]

Location: Kanaashi-Kurokawa, Akita City Site(s) of performance: Kurokawa Community Center Date(s): August 13 and 14 Designation: City-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishimai and Bangaku Kurokawa Bangaku has an institutionalized system where the Miura family is in charge of it with intergenerational succession. It is performed mostly as the prayer for bumper crops, though in

Location: Funauchiba, Tashiro, Higashiyuri-machi, Yurihonjo City Site(s) of performance: Yamanokami Shrine and other places in the community Date(s): August 13 and 14 and 2nd Saturday of September Category: Shishimai and Bangaku The Funauchiba Lion Dance has four lion dances in the strict sense and one bangaku dance: namely the Kado-jishi (Entrance-Visit Lion Dance), Kami-mai (Divine

Location: Tsuchiya, Yurihonjo City Site(s) of performance: Hakusan Shrine’s administrator’s house and other places in the community Date(s): August 13 Category: Shishimai and Bangaku The villagers of Tsuchiya learned lion dance bangaku from the community of Nishisawa-Yashiki (in the former Yuri Town) around the 10th year of Meiji (1877). The lion head is older and

Location: Nigorikawa, Arasawa, Yashima-machi, Yurihonjo City Site(s) of performance: Kizakai-Ōmonoimi Shrine, Kaizan Shrine, and other places in the community Date(s): July 8, August 13, and sometime in September Designation: City-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishimai and Bangaku It is said that the villagers in this community learned bangaku directly from the priest Honkai, but

Location: Iwaki-Tomita, Yurihonjo City Site(s) of performance: Gassan Shrine, the house in charge of the festival, and the other places in the community Date(s): 4th Saturday and Sunday of April Designation: City-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishimai and Bangaku The Gassan Shrine Lion Dance (also known as Tomita Lion Dance) is performed in the

Location: Noda, Taihei-Yamaya, Akita City Site(s) of performance: Anywhere Date(s): Anytime Designation: City-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishimai and Bangaku The bangaku mask of Yamaya Bangaku is itself a sacred object enshrined at Ikimen Shrine. The mask (which is a city-designated tangible cultural property) is believed to date from the Kamakura era (13th to

Location: Toshi, Nikaho City Site(s) of performance: Toshi Community Center, the Miura family’s residence, and other places in the community Date(s): August 13, 14, and 19 Designation: Prefecture-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishimai and Bangaku This bangaku belongs to the Honkai School of bangaku, the shugen ascetics’ bangaku which is practiced in many communities

Location: Akinomiya, Yuzawa City Site(s) of performance: Yakunai Hall and other places in the community Date(s): Saturday and Sunday closest to the 210th day from the First Spring Day (around September 1) and Sunday in early November Designation: City-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishimai and Bangaku Yakunai Bangaku is a bangaku for the annual

Location: Niida, Jumonji-machi, Yokote City Site(s) of performance: Shinzan Shrine, Niida Community Center, and other places in the community Date(s): September 7 and 8 Designation: Prefecture-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property Category: Shishimai and Bangaku The origin of Niida Bangaku goes back to ancient times. In the late 9th century, a person from Kyoto, Yahagi Ōinosuke