Shishi-mai of Tomi Shrine

Designation date December 15, 1955

Location (Owner) Hiraoka, Inzai City (Tomi Shrine)

　In this *Shishi dance, three dancers dressed as Jiji (parent shishi), Sena (young shishi), and Kaka (female shishi) wear shishi heads and beat drums attached to their abdomens with batons while dancing to the music played by a flute player.

　The Shishi perform 21 different dances freely in the shrine grounds, including "Yumikuguri no Mai," "Omawari no Mai," and "Isami Sankaku no Mai," to pray for the exorcism of demons and a bountiful harvest.

　In the past, the Shishi dance was performed on the day of "Okoto," an event to celebrate the completion of the Naeshiro (seed bedding) work, but now it is performed on May 3, the spring festival of the Torimi Shrine.

　According to legend, the dance was originally performed at Omori Torimi Shrine during the Bunmei period (1469-1487) and was introduced to Hiraoka in the 6th year of Enpo (1678).

　The custom of chanting the Tendo Nembutsu (Buddhist prayer) by elderly people in the district two or three days before the day of the festival to pray for fine weather on the day of the festival has been handed down through the generations.

* Shishi is divine animal. 

Inzai City Board of Education