The Sugenokubo Shishiodori is a dance imitating wild deer’s vigorous motion with deer-shaped headdress.
In ancient time, when Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto landed on the shore of Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki prefecture and the native people attempted to kill him by setting fire to the field, numerous deer showed up, repeatedly plunged into the water and ran around to extinguish the fire. Deeply moved to see this, Mikoto created the shishiodori.
It is unique to the Sugenokubo school that shishiodori and kenbai are performed swiftly interchanging. The dance is impressive in its dynamism of dancing with the gilt on the deer horns which sparkles reflecting the fire.
It is designated as the Intangible Folk Cultural Property by Iwate prefecture in 1988.