F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-208

Katsuta no Shishimai (Katsuta Three-Lion Dance)

勝田の獅子舞かつたのししまい

Handed down in the Katsuta area of Yachiyo City, Chiba, the Katsuta Three-Lion Dance is a Yachiyo City designated intangible folk cultural property. On the first Sunday of September each year — near the '210th day' that marks the typhoon season — it is dedicated in prayer for an abundant harvest and protection from wind and flood damage. Three lions (Oyaji the male, Sena the child, Kaka the female), each wearing a waist drum (kakko), beat the drum with short sticks as they dance to flute and drum accompaniment, performing a sequence in which the lions quarrel and then make up. The lion masks are lacquered black, with the eyes set close to the nose and large, deer-like ears. From around 10:30 a.m. the lions perform a 'half-shiba' at Katsuta's Enpuku-ji Temple, then form a procession to Komagata Shrine, where they dedicate the remaining 'half-shiba.' Hand dances and the 'minoko' dance are also performed. It is a 'furyu-style standing three-lion dance,' in which a single performer wears the head and beats a waist drum, and it is preserved as a typical example of this performing art found across the Kanto region.