Location: Komagata, Futatsui-machi, Noshiro City
Site(s) of performance: Atago Shrine and other places in the community
Date(s): July 24 and August 6
Designation: City-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property
Category: Sasara and Horse Dance
The Komagata Lion Dance is considered to be a kind of lion dance, but details of this tradition remain unclear especially because a fire in 1902 destroyed the lion heads and other items. According to legend, it was brought here by a monk in the Kamakura era (13th to 14th century) and has been performed since then to appease the spirits of the ancestors. The program here consists of the lion dance in the strict sense and a yakko dance (samurai servants’ dance). The lion dance is played by three lions, each performed by one person. Two lions are male and one lion female. In this place, the yakko dance is called the sasara dance together with stick dances.
