is a type of Shinto ritual ceremonial dance. The term is a contraction of the phrase , indicating the presence of gods () in the practice.
One major function of is , involving a procession-trance process. Usually a female shaman will perform the dance and obtain the oracle from the god—in the setting, the dancer herself turns into god during the performance. Once strictly a ceremonial art derived from , has evolved in many directions over the span of more than a millennium. Today, it is very much a living tradition, with rituals tied to the rhythms of the agricultural calendar, thriving primarily in parts of Shimane Prefecture, and urban centers such as Hiroshima.
Types of
There are two major types of : and . consists of slow circular movement, stressing quiet and elegance, while consists of quick leaping and jumping, stressing activation and energy. The two types can be understood as two phases of : is a preparation process for trance and is the unconscious trance stage.
During , the female shaman, surrounded by a group of priests, holds a (a ceremonial wand used to cleanse or purify) as well as sound-producing instruments and engages with circling movement to summon deities. Once the female shaman enters a possessed state, she switches into the spontaneous leaping movements of .
History
The epics and describe a folktale origin for the dances. In these texts, there is a famous legendary tale about the sun goddess Amaterasu, who retreated into a cave, bringing darkness and cold to the world. Ame-no-Uzume, goddess of the dawn and of revelry, led the other gods in a wild dance, and persuaded Amaterasu to emerge to see what the ruckus was all about. is one of a number of rituals and arts said to derive from this event.
Originally called , began as sacred dances performed at the Imperial court by who were supposedly descendants of Ame-no-Uzume. During the performance, the shrine maidens usually utilize a channeling device for god such as masks and spears to imitate the trance. With the music that has the power to summon the gods, the start to dance to transform themselves into the representation of the gods and receive messages as well as blessings from the deities. In 1871, Iwami Shinto offices claimed that theatrical performed by priests in the west of Japan demeaned their dignity and therefore banned the performance. Owning to the support of civilian performing groups at that time, the performance pieces were still preserved.
Over time, however, these performed within the sacred and private precincts of the Imperial courts, inspired popular ritual dances, called , which, being popular forms, practiced in villages all around the country, were adapted into various other folk traditions and developed into a number of different forms. Among these are , , and Ise-style and Izumo-style dances. Many more variations have developed over the centuries, including some which are fairly new, and most of which have become highly secularized folk traditions.
, in particular those forms that involve storytelling or reenactment of fables, is also one of the primary influences on the Noh theatre.
Imperial
is a ritual dance performed at the imperial court and at important Shinto shrines: Kamo-jinja and Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū. It consists of welcoming, entertaining and greeting the deities with humorous or poetic syllabic songs. Today it is sometimes considered as a sub-genre of , of which it is one of the influences. It predated Chinese inspiration, and has indigenous elements as well as influences from other elements such as , and , which are forms of , More simply, can be considered dances accompanied by music.
The is the sacred vocal repertoire of 26 songs (, etc.) traditionally performed by a male choir for several days, but reduced today to 12 chants performed in six hours. Instruments used include the and/or the , with the possible addition of a and claves.
There are several dances, including: The , associated with the , making use of the or and a pair of , and with or without a zither; The , using the ; The , associated with the , using the , the and the .
The formal Imperial ritual dances are performed in a number of sacred places and on a number of special occasions. At the Imperial Sanctuary, where the Yata no kagami is kept, they are performed as part of court music. are also performed at the Imperial harvest festival and at major shrines such as Ise, Kamo, and Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū. Since around the year 1000, these events have taken place every year.