Kagura
Kagura ( Japanese 神 楽 ) are performances of ancient dances and music in Shinto . According to legend, the origin of the Kagura goes back to Ame no Uzume , who is said to have lured the sun Kami Amaterasu out of her cave. In this sense, the purpose of Kagura is to calm, appease, and please the Kami . They are presented on various festive occasions.
Traditionally, Kagura have been performed at Shinto shrines by Miko , female shrine servants, but also male dancers, in special buildings or open stages, the Kagura-den ( 神 楽 殿 ) since the Muromachi period . These consist of a raised, central stage and roofed places for the accompanying musicians arranged laterally behind it. A well-preserved example can be seen on Miyajima Island in Itsukushima Shrine. Like all shrine Shinto ceremonies , they are usually meticulously planned.
Before that there was only court dance and music ( gagaku ), which were usually performed on an interim stage ( 舞 殿 , mai-dono or bu-den ) in front of the honing of a shrine.
There are nine different objects for Kagura, called tori-mono (採 物 ), which fulfill symbolic functions when performed and serve as a medium for the kami. These are:
- Branch of the sacred bulky shrub ( 榊 , sakaki )
- Holy offering ( 幣 , mitegura )
- Rod ( 杖 , tsue )
- Bamboo grass ( 篠 , sasa )
- Bow (and arrows) ( 弓 , yumi )
- Sword ( 剣 , tsurugi )
- Halberd ( 鉾 , hoko )
- Bowl ( 杓 , hisago )
- Kudzu ( 葛 , kazura )
In folk Shinto , kagura are also performed outside of shrines, these are called sato-kagura ( 里 神楽, "country or village kagura"), with scenes from Japanese mythology often being played in pantomime , which a narrator explains at the same time. Various professional Japanese dancers have started their careers with these. Hayachine Kagura ( 早 池 峰 神 楽 ), who is based in Ōhasama , Hanamaki , was designated an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2009 .
literature
- Gerhild Endress: “ On the Dramatic Tradition in Kagura. ”, In: Asian Folklore Studies , 1979, 38/1, pp. 1-23.
- Kobayashi Kazushige: “ On the Meaning of Masked Dances in Kagura. ”, In: Asian Folklore Studies , 1981, 40/1, pp. 1-22.
- Irit Averbuch: Shamanic Dance in Japan: The Choreography of Possession in Kagura Performance. , in: Asian Folklore Studies , 1998, vol. 57/2, pp. 293-329.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD 697 , translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by William George Aston . Book I, part 1, page 44f. Tuttle Publishing. Tra Edition (July 2005). First edition published: 1972. ISBN 978-0-8048-3674-6 (see also Aston Note 4 on page 44).
- ↑ Official homepage of UNESCO
Web links
- Takayama Shigeru: "Kagura" . In: Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugaku-in , February 20, 2007 (English)
- Mori Mizue: "Kaguraden" . In: Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugaku-in , June 2, 2005 (English)