Location: Kemanai, Towada, Kazuno City
Site(s) of performance: Gassan Shrine and other places in the community
Date(s): July 12 and 13
Category: Taiko-Furyū and Matsuri-Bayashi
This is a yatai float music, played at the annual festival of Gassan Shrine. On the day before the main festival, the music is played as an offering at the shrine’s Oyasumi Hall, after which the float is carried to the Shimokōji area with marching music. On the day of the main festival, the float goes around the community and Kemanai Bayashi is played, the numbers of which include Ugenkyō, Kakko (drums), Kiri-Bayashi (mist music), Ken-Bayashi (sword music), Fujita, and Gion. The origin is unknown, but as the numbers include Gion (a kind of music that developed in the Gion district in Kyoto), it is believed that Kemanai Bayashi came from Kyoto and was already practiced here by the 16th century.
