Shimotsuki Kagura is a traditional folk performing art passed down for generations in Tenryu Village, Shimoina District, Nagano Prefecture. Held during the eleventh month of the traditional Japanese lunar calendar, known as Shimotsuki, these sacred rituals express gratitude to the gods for the year’s harvest while praying for peace, good health, and prosperity in the coming year.
The name Tenryu Village Shimotsuki Kagura collectively refers to three traditional festivals: the Mukogata Okkiyome Festival, the Sakabe Winter Festival, and the Annual Festival of Ikeda Shrine in Okawachi. In 1978, the tradition was designated a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, recognizing its exceptional cultural value.
Shimotsuki Kagura belongs to a broad cultural area of yudate kagura, or sacred kagura centered on ritual boiling water, extending across the Sanno-Shin region around the Tenryu River. Tenryu Village preserves particularly old forms of these rituals.
The tradition is closely connected with the Shinno Kagura of Niino in neighboring Anan Town, the Hanamatsuri festivals of the Okumikawa area in Aichi Prefecture, and kagura traditions in Mizukubo, Shizuoka Prefecture. Throughout the night, dancers and ritual performers conduct ceremonies intended to invite the gods into the human world and pray for renewal and protection.
A distinctive feature of yudate kagura in this region is the presence of ritual specialists known as kamiko. Traditionally, these individuals devoted themselves to serving the gods throughout their lives. Another characteristic is the existence of special ceremonies held outside the regular annual festival cycle, such as purification festivals conducted when a prayer has been answered.
The Mukogata Okkiyome Festival takes place at Tensho Kodaijingu Shrine in the Mukogata district. It is a yudate kagura ceremony that begins with purification in the river by parishioners in the morning. In the evening, the long night of sacred dances begins.
The first performance is the “Zun no Mai”. This is followed by the “Hana no Yotome Mai,” in which the dancers change their ritual objects eight times. As the performances progress, the atmosphere becomes increasingly solemn and intense.
The ritual boiling of water, known as yudate, is performed approximately six times during the festival. Each ceremony is accompanied by a “Yubayashi no Mai,” a dance associated with the ritual boiling of water.
One particularly dramatic ceremony is called “Yonafune Kogi.” The sacred rope hanging around the dance hall is burned as an act of purification. The fire used for the yudate ritual is then raked out, and the dancers perform over the hot embers. The powerful scene demonstrates the physical intensity as well as the spiritual depth of the festival.
Near the end of the festival, the “Kazu no Yu” ritual takes place. Villagers gather around the large cauldron and boil the sacred water while chanting prayers for happiness, good health, and protection from illness in the coming year.
This final ceremony beautifully expresses the close relationship between religious faith and community life in Tenryu Village, with villagers sharing the same sacred space and prayers as the festival draws to a close.
The Sakabe Winter Festival is held at Omoriyama Suwa Shrine and is known for its extraordinary variety of dances and ritual masks, known as omogata.
The festival preserves the tradition of the kamiko, ritual performers who serve the gods. According to tradition, a child chosen through a sacred vow undergoes a ritual of “rebirth” at the age of 13 and thereafter serves as a kamiko.
The festival begins at dusk with ritual purification, followed by a procession from the lower sacred forest to the upper sacred forest. After ceremonies before the gods, four boys dressed in white garments, flower hats, and bells perform the “Hana no Mai.”
The dance lasts for approximately two hours, accompanied by traditional festival music. As night deepens, the sacred atmosphere intensifies and the performers continue their ceremonial dances.
After the “Honmai” and five rounds of yudate, the festival reaches one of its most spectacular stages: the “Omogata no Mai,” or masked dances.
The “Taikiri” mask sends sparks flying as the performer dances around the sacred fire, creating an unforgettable spectacle. Other figures then appear one after another, including the Shishi lion, the Tenkoki mask, and the Shokoki mask.
The ritual reaches its climax when Suio-sama sprinkles sacred water over the participants as a prayer for good health, followed by Hio-sama, who performs a ritual intended to calm and settle the sacred space.
The Annual Festival of Ikeda Shrine in Okawachi is another form of yudate kagura. Like the Mukogata festival, it does not use ritual masks in its dances.
In the past, it was sometimes called the “Mori Festival,” in contrast to the temporary “Uchi Festival.” The ceremony unfolds in a solemn atmosphere, with ritual boiling of water and sacred dances repeated throughout the night.
Although the Okawachi tradition has deep historical connections with Mukogata, it developed its own distinctive characteristics through cultural exchanges with the Mikawa region.
The final “Shizume no Mai,” or Calming Dance, is said to incorporate all the essential elements of the Okawachi tradition. Its solemn movements provide a fitting conclusion to the long night of ritual and prayer.
Tenryu Village Shimotsuki Kagura is a remarkable sacred tradition in which dancing, ritual boiling of water, fire ceremonies, music, masks, and prayer continue throughout the night.
Rather than being a performance staged simply for entertainment, these rituals are deeply rooted in the spiritual life of the community. They express gratitude for the harvest, welcome and honor the gods, pray for purification and renewal, and strengthen the bonds between local people.
The beautiful movements of the dancers and the mysterious atmosphere of the nighttime ceremonies offer visitors a rare glimpse into traditional Japanese religious culture that has survived for centuries in a remote mountain community.
Tenryu Village Shimotsuki Kagura has also attracted attention beyond the world of traditional folk culture. The mysterious atmosphere and imagery of the rituals are sometimes said to have influenced Hayao Miyazaki’s animated film Spirited Away.
Whether experienced through the solemn dances, the glowing fire, the rising steam from the ritual cauldron, or the striking masks, the festivals create an otherworldly atmosphere that helps explain why this traditional culture has fascinated people far beyond the region.
Shimotsuki Kagura offers a rare encounter with a living tradition in which gods and people are believed to meet through dance, fire, water, and prayer. Held during the quiet winter season, the festivals transform the mountain villages of Tenryu into sacred spaces filled with music, movement, steam, and the glow of fire.
For travelers interested in Japanese history, spirituality, folklore, and traditional performing arts, Tenryu Village provides an opportunity to experience a deeply rooted cultural heritage far from Japan’s major tourist centers.
On these winter nights, centuries-old prayers continue to echo through the mountain villages, preserving a unique cultural world in which the rhythm of community life remains closely connected to the changing seasons and the sacred forces of nature.