Location: Nigorikawa, Arasawa, Yashima-machi, Yurihonjo City
Site(s) of performance: Kizakai-Ōmonoimi Shrine, Kaizan Shrine, and other places in the community
Date(s): July 8, August 13, and sometime in September
Designation: City-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property
Category: Shishimai and Bangaku
It is said that the villagers in this community learned bangaku directly from the priest Honkai, but it is unclear whether that was really the case. In any way, since the origin and scripts of bangaku here are recorded in the ‘Basis of Shishimai,’ written in 1864, it is certain that the practice of bangaku had started here by then. It was called lion dance (shishimai), not bangaku, and was considered to belong to the school of Honkai Shishimai.

About Shishimai and Bangaku