According to tradition, a man named Shojiro, who came from Satsuma to the Uchino area as an adopted child at the end of the Edo period, taught this dance that had been handed down from earlier times in its present form. This stick dance used to be 60 people organized in 10 groups of 6 people each, but now it is performed by 2 groups of 12 people. A main characteristic is that half of the dancers are women, with the men holding a 6-foot pole and the women a sword, and the costumes are the same except for the long kimono, which is different for men and women. The dance consists of (1) "Niwa-iri" (entrance), (2) "Reishiki" (greeting), (3) "Bo-odori" (stick dance) in which three people hit each other with a 6-foot pole, (4) "Tachi Odori" (sword dance) in which men and women hit each other with sticks and swords and dance by hand, and (5) the exit, accompanied by a song performed by two singers. The dance has been performed on occasions such as the following.