ARTIST

Sukuizawa Nenbutsukenbai

Iwaizumi Town, Iwate

Sukuizawa Nembutsu Kenbai (Iwaizumi Town)
In the Sengoku period (late 15th century to late 16th century), a nobleman from Kyoto escaped to Iwaizumi and died within a few years. It is said that Sukuizawa Nembutsu Kenbai started mainly in the villages around Mount Kuromori, by dancing the kenbai sword dance and kagura to appease the spirits of the deceased. These dances are now performed every year during obon festival as a memorial service, and consists of eight different dances. In addition, each dance has three different ways of dancing, so there are more than 20 different ways of dancing in total.

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