🏮 Christmas Eve Ise Daikagura Somai

クリスマスイブ伊勢大神楽・総舞

Kuwana, Mie (Masuda Shrine) · Every year on 24 December

Important Intangible Folk Cultural PropertyTraditional performing arts

101 days to go
Rooms around Kuwana, Mie fill up while the festival is on.

On December 24, the Christmas Eve Ise Daikagura So-mai is dedicated by the Ise Daikagura Kousha at Masuda Shrine in Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture. The troupe, having completed its year-long journey through the provinces, returns to Tayu Village and dedicates the year-end kagura dance at Masuda Shrine. Kuwana once flourished as the gateway to Ise Province, welcoming travelers on pilgrimages to Ise. Ise Daikagura has traveled throughout the country performing kamado-barai (hearth purification) for over 450 years, gaining such influence as to have danna-ba (patronage areas) in various regions, and in the late Edo period it contributed to the spread of Ise faith by connecting with the Naiku goshi (priests of the Inner Shrine). Each troupe once dedicated a "mai-hajime" (first dance) for the New Year's journey, but when it was designated a cultural property of Mie Prefecture, it transformed into the joint "so-mai" (grand dance). On the day, led by Soke Yamamoto Gendayu, five troupes will jointly dedicate dances. The "Kaikyoku (Oiran Dochu)" performed by multiple troupes together is the highlight of the so-mai, marking the end of the year's journey.