August dance in Honmachi

Overview

Honmachi no Hachigatsu Odori (the August Dance of Honmachi) is a folk performing art handed down in Kimotsuki, Kagoshima Prefecture. Designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Kagoshima Prefecture, it is danced on the night of the fourth Saturday of September in even-numbered years to pray for abundant harvests and freedom from illness. It is one of the "August dances" widely transmitted along the Kimotsuki River basin of the Osumi Peninsula and in the Amami Islands. To the sound of drums, gongs, shamisen, and kokyu, people in distinctive costumes form a circle around a wooden tower and dance. The folklore photographer Suto Isao described the scene as "a blend of the Nishimonai Bon dance and the Owara Kaze no Bon," noting that the tone of the kokyu and the veiled, old-fashioned costumes leave a strong impression.

History and Origins

The origins of the dance are uncertain, with several theories. It is said that a dance was dedicated in 1671 (Kanbun 11) to mark the completion of an irrigation canal, but at its root lies gratitude for a good harvest. According to the Kushira Town local history, the August dance united rites to the deities with a harvest festival, and the water-deity rite and the August dance were originally held separately. It is said to have flourished from the Genroku era (1688–1704) onward, and especially from the Bunka-Bunsei era (1804–1830). The August dances widely transmitted across the Osumi Peninsula are noted to owe much to influence from southern Miyazaki; the form in which hand dances continue at length after the gong dance is said to have been transmitted directly from the Bon dances of the Hyuga (Miyazaki) side. Because regions that perform hand dances at Bon on the Satsuma and Osumi peninsulas are very few and mostly limited to the islands, it has been suggested that, since the Satsuma domain's suppression of the Ikko sect banned Bon dances, the name "August dance" was deliberately used to emphasize that it was not the seventh-month (old Bon) observance.

Highlights

One highlight is the "water-deity rite" held in the evening before the dance. Five-colored paper banners are raised at the shrine of the water deity worshipped in the town, and men in crested haori coats form a circle and dedicate a dance, singing as they shift their feet from side to side to the rhythm of drums and gongs. This dance is called the "gong dance" or the "amusement of the water deity." After dark, the August dance begins around a tower erected on the central Honmachi street. Men wear rush hats and black crested haori, while women combine yukata with black sashes—young women dressed brightly, married women demurely with black hoods and white headbands. On the tower, shamisen, drum, wooden clappers, and kokyu play together, and fourteen songs such as "Goshaku," "Shiambashi," and "Osaka Kyomachi" are sung.

Event Information and Access

The dance is held on the night of the fourth Saturday of September in even-numbered years, on the central Honmachi street in Shintomi, Kimotsuki. It was once dedicated every year on the eighteenth day of the eighth lunar month to celebrate the rice harvest. A rest called "nakaagai" is taken partway through, after which dress becomes informal and people from outside the town are also allowed to join the circle. Kimotsuki, in the southern part of Kagoshima's Osumi Peninsula, has limited public transport, so it is wise to confirm transportation in advance.

Around the Site

Many August dances of the same lineage are transmitted in the area around Kimotsuki, along the Kimotsuki River basin and in Kanoya. Examples include the "Haraikawa-cho August Dance" in Kanoya (a municipally designated property), the August dance of Aira-cho in Kanoya, the "Toujin August Dance" in Higashikushira, and the "Futsuhara Nakano August Dance" in Ariake, Shibushi—allowing visitors to compare dances that differ subtly from place to place. The Osumi Peninsula is a land nurtured by rich nature and agriculture, where one can savor the local character along with the folk arts that survive throughout the region.

Additional Information

Honmachi no Hachigatsu Odori was designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Kagoshima Prefecture on October 24, 1962, as the "August Dance of Honmachi, Takayama-cho" (under the municipal name of the time). Reflecting the transmission of Hyuga-style Bon dances, ties to the Satsuma domain's religious policy, and the link between water-deity worship and rice cultivation, it is a valuable art that mirrors the history and folklore of southern Kyushu. Held only every other year, opportunities to see it are limited, which makes all the more notable the care with which local people have preserved it.

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