EVENT
【Sanriku’s Festival】 Miyako Local Geinoh Festival 2026.3.8
- 2025
- Appreciation
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Date
2026.3.8 (Sun)
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Time
Door Open ：12:30ｐｍ
Performance Start：1:00ｐｍ
Performance End：4:00ｐｍ -
Locate
Miyako Public Hall, Main Hall
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Fee
Free（A numbered ticket is required）
Miyako City, home to Jodogahama on the Sanriku coast and Mt. Hayachine, a sacred mountain in the Kitakami Mountains, has a variety of folk Geinohs such as Kagura, Shishimai, Kenbai, and Sansa Odori.
This year’s Miyako Geinoh Festival features three Maku-Odori (“curtain-dance”) type dances, “Makkaku Shika-odori”, “Natsuya Shika-odori”, and “Suekaku Shika Odori”, which are performed by waving a curtain. Visitors can enjoy the differences in their respective deer heads and style of each dance. Other performances include “Minamikawame Sansa Odori” with its gorgeous hanagasa hats, and “Ushifushi Nembutsu Kembai (Buddhist Chant Sword Dance),” which is performed while chanting Nembutsu (Buddhist prayer) to make offerings to the spirits of those who died in the war, to dispel evil spirits, and to make a memorial service for ancestors. The guest performers of this time show is Hiranai Enburi Gumi from Hashikami town, Aomori Prefecture. Enburi is a Geinoh which mimics the movement of shaking up rice fields to pray for the god of rice field to wake up from the winter and to pray for a bountiful harvest for the year. Please come to the Miyako Geinoh Festival to feel the arrival of spring.
Venue: Miyako Public Hall, Main Hall (2-22 Sokei-oki, Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture)
Access
Access model from Tokyo (if you use public transportation, you can make a day trip, but we recommend staying the night before).
Day 1 March 7 (Sat.)
| Hours. | Schedule, Departure – Arrival | remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 08:18 | Departure from Tokyo Station – Arrival at Morioka Station (10:28) | Tohoku Shinkansen Hayabusa No. 5 |
| 10:40 | Morioka Station East Exit – Miyako Station (12:20) | Iwate Kenpoku Bus [106 Limited Express]. |
| Miyako City Sightseeing Overnight in Miyako City |
Day 2 March 8 (Sun.)
| Hours. | Schedule, Departure – Arrival | remarks |
|---|---|---|
| this morning | Sightseeing in Miyako City | |
| 13:00 | Viewing the Miyako Local Geinoh Festival Doors open 12:30 p.m. Concert begins 1:00 p.m. Concert ends scheduled for 4:00 p.m. | Miyako Public Hall Main Hall |
| 16:55 | Miyako Station – Morioka Station East Exit (18:35) | Iwate Kenpoku Bus [106 Limited Express]. |
| 18:50 | Departure from Morioka Station – Arrival at Tokyo Station (21:04) | Tohoku Shinkansen Komachi 36 |
*In case you use MEX Miyako/Yamada express buses to/from Tokyo metropolitan area https://michinori-express.com/nanbu/
Nearby sightseeing spots’ Information
Miyako Kitakamisanchi Museum of Folklore
This museum collects folklore materials from the Kawai area of Miyako City, located in the central part of the Kitakami Mountains, on the north side of Hayachine Mountain, which is a center of mountain worship and the origin of Yamabushi (mountain hermit) Kagura. The museum has a large number of materials, and visitors can take a close look at the lives and beliefs of the people of the mountains.
| Access | 5 minutes walk from Rikuchu Kawai Station on JR Yamada Line 3 minutes walk from Kawai bus stop on Iwate Kenpoku Bus 106 express. |
| Contact | TEL：0193-76-2167 FAX：0739-76-2933 |
| Business Hours | 9:00-17:00 |
| Closed day | Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a national holiday), year-end and New Year holidays, etc. |
| URL | http://kitakamisanchi.city.miyako.iwate.jp/ |
Bin-Don
The common style of preserving freshly caught sea urchins along the coast of Iwate Prefecture is to pack them in milk jar.
The advantage of doing so is that it is hygienic and freshness can be well preserved. Bin-Don (seafood bowl in a milk jar) have got inspiration from this unique preservation method. It is fun to look at the layers of seafood in the jar, and you can make it easily by yourself. It is such a tasty dish. You can enjoy them in various restaurants in Miyako City.
☆ For other tourist information → https://kankou385.jp/
Areas
出演団体
Tashiro Dainenbutsu Kenbai
Tsugaruishi Sansa-odori
Guest
Ogatsu Houin Kagura(Ishinomaki City,Miyagi)
Artists
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Tashiro Dai Nenbutsu Kembai
The origin of this keｍbai is said to trace back to 300 years ago, when people in this area danced in front of Miyako magistrate office as a prayer for the victims of a great starvation. Having become a vital tradition, the dancers nowadays go around houses to pray for the recently departed, and to Eiko-ji temple and Kyusho-ji temple in Tashiro community to appease the souls of ancestors on 16th of August every year. When they visit a house, they hold a ritual called segaki ogami; they face to ihai (Buddhist mortuary tablet) and chant Buddhist sutra, waving the fan vertically. Since 1966, they also give classes to children at Kigaku Elementary School to maintain the tradition.
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Norinowaki Shishi-mai
Norinowaki Shishimai (Miyako City)
It is said that Norinowaki Shishimai originated in the late Edo period, when Sashiro, a son-in-law from Moichi of Miyako City, brought the Moichi Shishi Odori to the Norinowaki District. It is said that the dance took its present form in the Taisho era. -
Tsugaruishi Sansa-Odori Preservation Society
The Tsugaruishi Sansa is said to have been passed down from the fish dealers who learned sansa odori in Morioka in Kan’ei era (1624-1643). Having grown in popularity since Kansei era (1789-1800), it was brought by Manta Tateshita to Tsgugaruishi-Shinmachi in the Taisho period (1912-1926) and established as today’s form. They dedicate this dance at the festival at Tsugaruishi Inari Shrine on August 16 every year, and perform it with a ship-shaped float “Toraichi Maru” at Miyako Autumn Festival. Nowadays, they give classes at elementary schools and junior high schools, and take part in Morioka Sansa Odori Festival. Since the Tsugaruishi community was damaged by Typhoon No. 18 in 2019, they participate many events to mourn the victims.
Contact
Sanriku Geinoh Festival LINK executive office (Iwate Art Support Center Department)
Representative: Takeda
TEL::019-656-8145 Mail:r-takeda@iwate-arts.jp
Sanriku International Arts Festival 2025 Nurture
Organizer｜Sanriku International Arts Festival Promotion Committee Japan Arts Council Agency Agency for Cultural Affairs
Co-sponsors｜Hachinohe city, Hashikami town, Hirono town, Kuji city, Noda village, Fushiro village, Tanohata village, Iwaizumi town, Miyako city, Yamada town, Otsuchi town, Kamaishi city, Ofunato city, Rikuzen Takada city, Sumida town, Sanriku Railway Co. All Japan Geinoh Association, Iwate Art Support Center (NPO), Japan Contemporary Dance Network (NPO)
In cooperation with: Michinoku Trail Club (NPO), imajimu LLC, Tohoku Institute for Cultural Properties Image Research, Minna no Shirushi LLC, Kamaishi Civic HallTETTO
Support｜Iwate Prefecture, Sanriku Foundation, Sanriku Geopark Promotion Council, Iwate Nippo, Mutsu Nippo, Tokai Shimpo, Daily Tohoku Shimbun, NHK Morioka Broadcasting Station, IBC Iwate Broadcasting System, TV Iwate Menkoi TV, Iwate Asahi TV, Hachinohe TV, Aomori TV, Aomori Aomori Asahi Broadcasting System, FM Iwate, Aomori Broadcasting System, FM Aomori Community radio station BeFM