Location: Kawashiri-Uenomachi, Akita City
Site(s) of performance: Chinpō Shrine, Kimoirimachi Hall, and other places in the community
Date(s): 3rd Sunday of June
Designation: City-Designated Intangible Folkloric Cultural Property
Category: Taiko-Furyū and Matsuri-Bayashi
The Kashima Festival is a folkloric ritual that was practiced after the rice-planting season in five communities in the Kawajiri area. Kashima Bayashi is the music for the Kashima Festival. A large doll and a small shrine are installed on the stern of a yatai float, Kashima-fune, and small Kashima dolls of about 30cm are devoted to it and put on the float. The yatai float goes around the community, after an usherer visits houses and purifies them to prepare for the Kashima yatai’s visit. Musicians follow the yatai float and play Kashima Bayashi. A big drum is installed on the stern of the yatai float that the drummer beats while walking after the float, accompanied by Japanese flutes. This music is considered one of the prototypes of Kantō Bayashi.
