Kamiishigami Onsen Shrine Annual Grand Festival (Shirokuwamai)

About this event

The "Shirokuwamai," handed down for over 450 years in the Kamiishigami district of Ohtawara City, Tochigi Prefecture, will be dedicated at the "Kamiishigami Onsen Shrine Annual Grand Festival," which celebrates the autumn harvest. Designated as an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Tochigi Prefecture, this Shirokuwamai is a folk performing art in the rice-planting dance tradition where performers dance while striking hoes. Its origin traces back to the celebration banquet for the completion of Ohtawara Castle in 1543 (Tenbun 12), said to have begun when a farmer named Tobei performed an impromptu dance holding a spade and hoe. Sukekiyo Ohtawara, the lord of the castle, was pleased with it and subsequently invited him to perform inside the castle every New Year. Currently, it is dedicated at Onsen Shrine every year on the second Sunday of October to celebrate the autumn harvest, performed by pupils of Ishigami Elementary School and volunteers. Led by a "katachifuri" figure wearing a light pink hood, dancing in rhythm, the spectacle is reminiscent of laborers building a castle at work. The katachifuri dancing while shouting "Sa-ssa-ssaa-" appears as though encouraging the workers. Young girls adorned with white face powder and lipstick add glamour as hoe strikers, enlivening the festival.

Venue

Kamiishigami Onsen Shrine

1555-2 Kamiishigami, Ohtawara, Tochigi 324-0037