Location: Takao, Yurihonjo City
Site(s) of performance: Kinpō Shrine and other places in the community
Date(s): January 3, 3rd Sunday of July, and August 15 and 16
Category: Shishimai and Bangaku
The shishimai (lion dance) of Takao is the dance of a lion from Kinpō Shrine. According to legends, when the priest Zezan-Taikaku of Akata-Chōkoku Temple built the temple’s main hall in 1793, the pillars were made of huge cedar trees in the premises of Kinpō Shrine. Out of those trees, a Buddha statue and a lion head were also carved. That is the lion head, according to the legends, and is still used in the lion dance performance today. After dancing in the residence of the Otomo family, the chief administrator of Kimpō Shrine, the lion dances at the shrine as an offering to the gods, and goes around the community to bring happiness and protection to individual houses.

About Shishimai and Bangaku