🏮 Mizutome Mai

水止舞

Ota, Tokyo (Gonjoji Temple) · Every year on 14 July

Traditional performing arts

303 days to go
Rooms around Ota, Tokyo fill up while the festival is on.

Mizudome-mai (Water-Stopping Dance) is held at Gonsei-ji Temple in Ota Ward, Tokyo, on the second Sunday of July. It is a folk performing art designated as an intangible folk cultural property of Tokyo. In an area long troubled by floods, it is said to have originated from prayers offered to a dragon (water deity) to stop the water. It is unusual nationwide in that it prays for both rain and the cessation of rain. In the first half, called Michiyuki (procession), young men enter two straw-woven dragons (water deities), one male and one female, and proceed in procession while blowing conch shells. Large amounts of water are thrown on them from buckets by people around them, expressing the appearance of praying for rain. In the second half, the venue moves to a stage in the grounds of Gonsei-ji Temple, where three lions—a female lion with a red mask and a young lion and male lion with black masks—dedicate a dance to calm the rain for about 30 minutes to the accompaniment of flutes and songs. Because you can see the splashing water up close, this is a powerful event where raincoats and a change of clothes are essential.