Experience Traditional Kagura Performances Near Tokyo

Date: Third Sunday in June and October, Concert begins at 11:00 a.m.
　　　　Night kagura is held on the fourth Sunday of the month from June to November at 8:00 p.m.
In July and September, firewood kagura (at 8:00 p.m.), not firewood Noh, is also held!
Location: 176 Mitakeyama, Ome-shi, Tokyo
Access: Take the Chuo Line to Mitake Station (about 1.5 hours from Shinjuku), then take a 10-minute bus ride to Takimoto Cable Car Station. Climb to the top of the mountain, and then walk along the approach for about 25 minutes.

this article is based on 2019 visit

Welcome to Mitake

Long ago, when Tokyo was still called Edo, there was a word If you live in Edo for three generations, you are an Edokko (an Edo person). Since that time, Edo and Tokyo have been a place where people come and go. At that time, Edo was the largest city in the world with a population of one million. Inheritance is important in the performing arts. For this reason, the performing arts have not been widely transmitted in Tokyo. However, there were still rural areas outside the center of the city, and some of them still remain in the surrounding areas.

The location is in the Okutama area, which has been introduced several times on this site. Just an hour’s train ride from central Tokyo, the area is a cool and refreshing mountainous region that could be described as a different world. The performing art that this site introduces today is Mitake Kagura, which is performed several times a year at the Mitake Shrine in this area.

Since ancient times, Japan has had what should be called mountain worship, and in the midst of this, religious groups such as yamabushi (mountain priests) were born. This Mitake Shrine is one of them. Therefore, to get there, you have to climb a mountain. First, take the train to Mitake Station. From there, there is a bus to the cable car station. If the weather is good, quite a few people will ride. Of course, you can also go on foot.
Eventually, you will arrive at the station at the top of the mountain, which is the beginning of the approach to the shrine. From here, it is necessary to climb further up the hill.

There are a number of monuments along the way. These are the prayer monuments of a religious group called “Kou. This is a group of people who used to collect money to visit shrines in their town or other units, and when they had saved up a certain amount of money, a representative would collect enough for everyone to visit the shrine. Since travel was not as freely available and expensive as it is today, there were many such groups in various parts of the country.

Experience the Mitake Kagura

The start time is 10:00 a.m. The first performance is called Gagaku. This music was introduced from mainland China through the Korean peninsula about 1200-300 years ago. It is still performed at events and other occasions, mainly at court. Even in the private sector, this technique has been handed down to historic shrines and other places of worship.

After the performance, the kagura begins. Since this is a venerable shrine, there is no element of joking around, and the ritualistic dancing continues unabated. There is not much movement. There is no ” hyottoko” that comes out in the latter half of the performance and does something funny to entertain the audience.

However, since it is kagura, the point remains the same: to pray to the gods, to appease the evil spirits of the earth, and to express the world of mythology.

This is a kagura adaptation of the episode of Empress Jingu and her loyal retainer Takeuchi Sukune. Empress Jingu was the queen of the 14th emperor and mother of the 15th emperor. Compared to her husband, the emperor, whose achievements are not so well documented, this mother is amazing. Legend has it that she traveled to the Korean Peninsula and conquered several countries while still a woman. Takeuchi Sukune helped her in this endeavor. In fact, there is no such historical fact, so historians say that there must have been some intention for such history to be written. However, the intention is unknown, although there are various theories.

The performance ends with a slightly comical masked “mountain god” with his tongue sticking out, which is unusual for the occasion. The mountain god throws rice cakes at us. The rice cakes, if taken well, bring good luck.
The masks are well made and the costumes are gorgeous, as it is a kagura of a prestigious shrine. According to the explanation of an official, each costume costs about one million yen. Although there is no element of entertainment, the experience of listening to this prestigious music and music that is more than 1,000 years old is quite rare. To be able to do so so close to Tokyo is quite an experience. That is, if you are confident in your legs and feet.

Get in touch with nature and view artworks

Nice hiking trails with canyons and small museums in the vicinity. There are frequent trains from environs. If you are tired of the city, come here once.
https://www.omekanko.gr.jp/spot/80401/

https://musashimitakejinja.jp/homotsu_multilingual/en/en-top.html