The Shishi play dice exposition? ~The lion dance at Suge
Kanagawa Prefecture, next to Tokyo, is as small in area as Tokyo, but its population is the second largest, surpassing the regional centers of Osaka and Aichi. More than 30 million in Yokohama, the prefectural capital. The neighboring city of Kawasaki, the area of this report, has a population of 15 million. Even though it is a bit out of the center of the city, it is surprising how the lion dance has been handed down in such a place. Moreover, this lion dance has a slightly different flavor from other lion dances, perhaps due to its proximity to the city. Let’s take a look at the details.
Date: Sunday close to September 12
Location: Suge Yakushido, 4-16-2 Suga Kitaura, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-city, Kanagawa, Japan
Access: 10 minutes walk from Inadazutsumi Station on JR or Keio Line.
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This article is based on 2017
Where does it take place?
Inada-zutsumi can be reached in 4 or 50 minutes from Shinjuku, Tokyo. Despite its proximity, the Tama River flows nearby, and there is even a promenade for forest bathing in the surrounding area. Nice place to live. The area in front of the station is bustling, but the slope leading up to Yakushido, where today’s event will take place, is a short hike away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The event started at 2:00 p.m., but the grounds were quite crowded, and spectators crowded around the ring, which served as the stage for the event. The reason for this is that a children’s sumo tournament is always held before the lion dance.
A tengu comes rushing in
When the time comes, the lions, the stars of the show, arrive to the accompaniment of a slightly sad melody. First of all, a tengu (a kind of long-nosed goblin) jumps into the ring on the stage with great energy. The tengu then repeats this action three times. He comes in, goes back out, and then again. As one would expect, after repeating it three times, the tengu gets tired of it, but on the third time, it scatters confetti. The bright colors of the confetti are a brilliant performance that catches the audience by surprise.
And the lions are coming too
Following the tengu, the lions enter. The tengu welcomes them. In this case, the tengu plays a roll called sakibar先払い, which means to purify the place for the lions, the main performers, and to announce the appearance of them.
The lions dressed in bright blue, patterned curtains, and their manes are magnificent. The main “ojishi 雄獅子” has gold horns, while the “kyujishi 臼獅子” has red and black twisted horns. And “mejishi 雌獅子” has no horns. It is a typical form of the three lion dances.
The lions here have many strenuous movements that involve standing and sitting on their feet and legs. The lion’s head and drums together weigh about 6.5 kg. It is not hard to imagine how hard it must be to dance with the lion’s head on while the summer heat still lingers, even in September. The reservationists say that only the young people can perform this kind of work. Therefore, daily promotional activities, such as visiting elementary schools and other places to teach lion dance, are essential. Fortunately, there seem to be enough children to hold children’s sumo tournaments, so there seems to be no problem with successors.
In the old days, only the eldest son of a wealthy family could play the role. Now, this custom has disappeared, but the custom of everyone replacing everyone at the same time still persists. Incidentally, the lion dance first appeared in literature in the early 12th century. However, after a period of interruption, it was revived in its present form in the late 18th century and continues to be performed today.
The Tengu proposes a game of dice to the lions
Then comes a rare scene rarely seen in ordinary lion dances.
The lions sit in a circle. The tengu then offers them dice. In short, the tengu proposes to play a gambling game with the dice. In fact, this tengu is a man of mischief, gambling, and drinking.
An ill-advised Tengu is punished by the lion he tricked
This is followed by the well-known performance “Mejishi kakushi” (Mejishi hiding), which is a little different from the others. The usual presentation of this performance is that the female lioness disappears and the two lions search for her, and the lioness who finds her first tries to monopolize her, which happens.Here, however, the Mejishi (female lioness) is set as the wife of the Ojishi (male lion). It begins with a tengu doing something wrong and hiding the female lioness from the Ojishi. Then the Ojishi, misunderstanding the situation, starts taking it out on the Kyujishi, and they start a fight.
Naturally, in the end, the lions realize that they have misunderstood and punish the tengu to the hilt. In any case, the tengu is a rare villain here.
Nevertheless, they are working so hard that the lion dance would not be possible without the efforts of these tengu. They were drenched in sweat as they were applauded at the end. Please take a look at this unusual lion dance.
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