Nakada Mushi-oi Odori (Dance to Drive Insects Away)

Category Name:Furyu (Furyu Style Dance)

Traditional clothes, (straw sandals, leggings, sash and headband), are worn and they perform a brave dance to the accompaniment of bells, drums, flutes, conch shells and big drums. 7 people in a group line up and beat the drums in the same motion. After a Shinto ritual is held at Nakada Sugawara Shrine, the dance is dedicated to the gods and paraded through the district, and then the Gohei are floated down from the beach. The dance had been suspended since the Meiji era, but was revived in 1973 by the Amakusa City Shinwa Town Nakata Youth Group, which finished its activities in 2020. The group consists of 5 flag bearers, 20 drum dancers, 2 drum bearers, 5 flutes, 1 gong, and 2 small drums. They parade through the town and perform the Mushi-oi Odori at 10 places, then drive away the insects to the beach.

Municipality

Amakusa City

Category

Furyu (Furyu Style Dance)

Specific Location

Nakada, Shinwa-machi

Cultural Property Designation

Performance Date(s)

late April

Performance Location

Nakata District

Preservation Society

Nakata Mushi-oi Odori Preservation Society