Location: Hadachi, Sotooka, Mitane Town
Site(s) of performance: Horyo Shrine and other places in the community
Date(s): July 1, August 7 and 13, and September 1
Designation: Town-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property
Category: Sasara and Horse Dance
Hadachi Sasara (Mitane Town) was brought here from Konda (in the former Aikawa Town) in the middle of the Edo era in the 17th or 18th century. It is often called a lion dance (shishimai), but it is officially a sasara dance. The sasara here used to include a stick dance, but when the present survey was conducted it only had a yakko dance (samurai servants’ dance) and sasara dance in the narrow sense. The sasara dance is played by three lions, one female and two males, each performed by one person. They have two sets of three lions, one set of three mountain lions and the other of three town lions. For the sasara dance, the music is played on big drums and Japanese flutes, as well as singing.
