Nibuna Sasara Odori
仁鮒ささら踊
"Conventional dance performance with variety genres is worth seeing and inspire some historical context. "
-Yamaguchi
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Historical background
This festival has the history of over 300 years as a traditional dance performance in this place. When Military commander Satake Yoshinobu (1570-1633) moved to Akita from Hitachi, the current Mito in Ibaraki, for government in the early Edo period (1602), the following Fujiwara family in Douji village, the current Noshiro city in Akita, had passed down a conventional dance. The current Nibuna Sasara Odori, which was designated as an Akita intangible folkloric cultural property in 1986, originates from this kind of dance. This Nibuna Sasara odori has held in lantern festival for the purpose of hope for abundant harvest and ancestor veneration. Even though, Sasara Odori is also performed in several regions in Akita, there are differences of origination, history and the type of dance style.
Characteristics
Basically, Nibuna Sasara Odori was performed mostly by men from children to adults while some girls seem to participate in it. This festival is conducted for the purpose of desiring a bountiful harvest and ancestor worship.
Sasara means a shishimai holding and playing Taiko, as well as sasara odori performed in various regions of Japan, even though each dance has a unique style and structure. This type of Nibuna Sasara Odori mainly consists of three parts:
1) shishimai (lion dance)
2) yakko-odori (dance in servant-like costume)
3) koma-odori (dance as if they riding on a horse, wearing wooden costumes shaped like a horse's head and tail).
These dances are attached to the musical performance of flute, taiko drum, and partly songs. Participants perform in a row line in the order of people with roles of lead, flag, banner, paper lantern, toolbox, shishi (lion-like), yakko (servant-like), koma (horse-like), flute, and taiko drums as if they were a daimyo procession.
This is koma-odori performance!
This is shishimai performance!
To know more!
Nibuna Sasara Odori performed in the road around houses in the city (only performance video without explanation)
performance of koma-odori acting like riding on a horse in 1988 (only performance records) [Japanese only]
Nibuna Sasara Odori performed in a row line, like daimyo procesion, outside in 1988 (only performance records) [Japanese only]
Performance of Shishimai, lion dance, with a song and its lyric in 1988 (song is only for shishimai dance) [Japanese only]
Visit this festival!
・date 🗓️: August 13, 14 & October 26
・place 📌: Nibuna, Futatsu-machi, Noshiro-city,
Akita
How to get there (from Akita station)...
car🚗: 1.5 hour
or
train🚃: 1.5 hour → walk🚶: 1.5 hour
※ I recommend you visit by car due to
inconvenient transportation.
Direct Voice from Yamaguchi
This festival has been conserved and passed down to the next generation for over 400 years, which shows the perception as a valuable one toward it among local people. Through research of this nibuna sasara odori, I was surprised that this dance has a wide variety of dance performances. That is, the costumes, the dancing motions, and the music of each section are completely different, which would attract you. Personally, I found it interesting that they act as a lion, a horse, or a servant, which specifically inspires the historical background of the ancient people's lives. I believe that this festival has the advantage of involving some features of traditional performing arts of dance. You would be satisfied with this variety of dance performances. Additionally, since this region is more likely to be more energetic during the period when this festival is held, you can enjoy the locally rooted atmosphere. Therefore, this conventional dance is worth seeing since it fascinates viewers with its unique style, music, and inspiration from the historical background.
References
References
Akita Folk Performing Arts Archives. (n.d.). Nibuna sasara odori. https://www.akita-minzoku-geino.jp/archives/ja/2243/
Hokuu shinpousya. (n.d.). The energetic performance of sasara, which desires rich harvest and enhance the local atmosphere. https://www.hokuu.co.jp/?p=21496
Kotobank. (n.d.). Yakko-odori. https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%A5%B4%E8%B8%8A-648609
Noshiro City. (n.d.). Nibuna sasara odori. Noshiro city official website. https://www.city.noshiro.lg.jp/res/minzoku-geinou/5541
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Yoshinobu SATAKE. In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 18, 2025, from https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/佐竹義宣_(右京大夫)
by Aimi Yamaguchi
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