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In farming societies, spring and autumn are two important seasons for planting and harvesting. At Atago Jinja shrine, people held a ritual and performed Kagura dances to express their gratitude for good harvest last week.
When a shrine holds an annual festival, two big flags are raised in front of Torii Gate.
The word on the left flag means nature is filled with sacred dignity. The right one is written sacred blessing goes on forever.
Dances are held in an exclusive building. 12 Kagura acts are usually performed in one festival. Each act has its own music to be played in combination with a bamboo flute, a small drum and a big one. All acts are played without voice. One act is performed for about 10 minutes. Dances are based on myths.
He is the god of mighty power. The myth says when the goddess of sun hidden in a cave and the world was occupied with darkness, he opened the stone door and had her come outside the cave. In this act, he raised a big stone on his shoulder. It is made of wood here. If not, the dancer would be a seasonal orthopedic client twice a year. Ancient people believed his amazing power had erased darkness and brought brightness to the world. The brightness brings good harvest and happiness.
After finishing his hard work, he dances holding a sacred symbol made with folded paper in his left hand and a hand bell in right. The mystic sound of bells carries to the farthest corners of the precincts.
The goddess of sun comes next. A branch held by her is Sakaki (Cleyera japonica). Sakaki trees are planted in many shrines. Its character is 榊. The leftmost 木 is tree and the right 神 is god. She went around few times on stage shaking the branch and bell. Her act might symbolize the sun moves regularly so that farmers can get a good harvest. Needless to say, this is based on Ptolemaic theory.
He is the god of victory. He wears a special hat Torikabuto. That's cool, isn't it?
He shoots a bamboo arrow toward four directions. It seems that he eliminates all evil things so that people can get happiness.
The sun has kept regularity and the world has kept cleanliness, then the god of rice growing comes to the stage. His temporary appearance is a white fox. This animal is believed to be a messenger of the god.
He holds a small offering stand on which rice cakes are put. Children gather in front of the stage to get cakes to be thrown by him
The right one is a farmer with a hoe on his shoulder. He makes a preliminary ritual of cultivating a field. He often made funny gestures and the audience burst out laughing. This act might mean that the farming next year will be easy without any trouble under the good nature conditions which have been achieved by the goddess and gods in the former acts.
He is the god of fortune. He holds a bamboo fishing rod and catches good luck.
After watching a series of acts, I feel the former act has close relation to the latter one. As each act is performed, the audience can change their feelings gradually from anxiety to joy. Farmers cannot foresee crops next year. In old days, they suffered much more difficulties. Bad weathers had often given fatal damages to them. A series of Kagura has brought hope and courage to all inhabitants in history.
