Historical background

• Niiyama-kagura is one of the traditional dance arts in Akita. It was started more than 300 years ago. It was a unique dance held in the village on August 13th, which marked the Obon period in Japan. 

• Its shrine is the Yudonosan Shrine, located in Omonogawa Town, Niyama District.

• The origin of Kagura dates back approximately 47 years, to 1555, when Jingenin (新光院) was established in Kouyasan, Wakayama. There have not been priests for a long time. However, the disease had spread widely in the village; thus, people started establishing the shrine

• The people in the shrine distributed medicine and rice to the residents to help people. Then, people started to express their appreciation for the shrine's help. There were people in Handa, Aichi prefecture, and it is said that they told Kagura. 

• In 1868, the Meiji government implemented “Shinbutsu Hanzeirei”, which forcibly separated 

Shinto and Buddhism. Thus, the Niiyama shrine was one of the shrines that were forced to eliminate Buddhist status. However, there are still Nyorai statues in Niiyama Shrine, such as “Daiichi Nyoraizo” from Kouya-san. 

• They have performed the traditional dance every year since then, until 1997; however, instructors in the village have passed away over time. Although the dance revived after 5 or 6 years, it faded around 2013 due to a lack of successors and dancers in the village.

• According to the Yokote City Omonogawa Regional Affairs Division, the traditional dance had faded around 2013, due to a lack of successors.

Characteristics

• Niiyama kagura are intangible cultural assets confirmed by the city. They hope for “五穀豊穣 (gokoku hōjō)” and “商売繁盛 (shōbai hanjō)”. Gokoku hōjō refers that bountiful harvest of the staple grains such as rice, wheat, barley, millet, and beans. This represents the abundance and prosperity of agriculture. Shōbai hanjō means the hope for successful economy, and represents the prosperity of business. They have several types of dance, Makumai ( shishimai(獅子舞) ), Yariodori(槍舞), Okameodori(おかめ踊り), banzai(萬歳), Saitorimai(幸とり舞).

• The dancers were chosen from the village. The participants of the dance used to be limited only for oldest son. However, due to the decline of the residents in the village, anyone was allowed to participate in the dance. The dance took 5-6 hours as a whole because they change the placed to dance during the night. they started from the Niiya shrine, traditional folk house in the village, then the temple(Jinenji).

演目 -Enmoku

• Makumai (幕舞い)：This is a dance of a man and Shishimai. Shishimai plays the role of warding off evil spirits and diseases. Its dance is brave to express the elimination of such bad illnesses. The flow of the movement is matched between the man and Shishimai. The man holds sticks and as if he craps with those sticks. While the movement of the man is clumsy, Shishimai’s movement is fluid and flexible. There are two people inside Shishimai, so its size is large, which allows it to receive a lot of attention from the audience.

• Yariodori (槍踊り) : In this dance, the group of children play a performance. It is like a campfire that children. They perform a dance in a circle around a fire. There used to be about 20 children as a dancer, however, the member had decreased to 5 or 6 people at the last period due to the low birthrate.

• Okameodori (おかめ踊) : In this dance, men dressing as women play this dance. There is a dancer behind the speaker; the person looks like they are hiding their body by standing behind the speaker. 

• Manzai (萬歳, 神力万歳) : In this performance, the performers use humorous linguistic discourse and play interesting movements. The performance is often done by Shinto priest, and they tell a trending topic or story humorously. the purpose of this performance is to create a friendly atmosphere for the audience.

• Saitorimai (幸とり舞) : The dance is persistent. The choreography is repeated. The dancer uses the entire body to dance. This dance also uses a stick.

Daikagura (太神楽 ) 

Fundamentally, Daikagura is a traditional dance which has been told from a long time ago. There are often four types of the performance. Firstly, Mai (舞 ) is the performance that two people dance while wearing a Shishitou. Shishimai  and its performance are very familiar among people. It includes the performance in which shishimai eats people's head to eat evil spirits, ptotect people from harm, and grant them blessing. Kyokugei (曲芸 ) is the performance that people use some commodities such as umbrellas plates and balls. Wagei (話芸 ) is the oral performance that speakers have a conversation with a sense of humor. Finally, Narimono (鳴り物 ) is the performance that people dance with the sound of drums and gong. Niiyama Kagura is one of this types of traditional dance, though the contents are a bit different.

All photos are by: https://youtu.be/LVzccB-KLto?si=_Azwa9iXVElgABtT

To know more

Direct voice

The voice of the participant: Mr. O (79 years old)

It is very unfortunate that the traditional dance died out. I used to go to see the traditional dance.  Although I have been performing for only a few years, I still feel sad that I have not been able to preserve this culture as a representative of the village. However, I also understand that the dance requires a lot of hard work. I recall that I used to visit the traditional folk house and practice Saitorimai under the guidance of an instructor a month before the traditional dance performance. I wish that young people could inherit the traditional dance to preserve our culture; however, I know it is difficult because they are busy with school work and club activities, or they have little interest in this kind of tradition. It is very difficult to preserve something traditional. 

Information about the interviewee

He is the representative of the village. He is 79 years old now. He only participated in Niiyama Kagura three times because, as the fourth son, he was not required to be the oldest son. However, thanks to the change in the policy due to the lack of participants, anyone could participate in the performance. He participated in the traditional dance performance when he was 50s. He took part in Saitorimai.