Lion Dance Entertainment: A Strength Contest with the Lion ~The Hanahata Lion Dance 花畑の獅子舞
Date; Every year on the Sunday before Marine Day—Marine Day is a public holiday falling on the third Monday in July
Location; Hanahata Otori shrine 7-16-8 Hanahata, Adachi Ward, Tokyo
Access; Take the bus from Tobu Bus Platform 1 at Tsukuba Express ‘Rokucho Station’
Take the Bunkyo University Circular bus and alight at ‘Hanahata 6-chome’; it is an 8-minute walk from there
or From ‘Yatsuka Station’ on the Tobu Skytree Line, take the Tobu Bus bound for Hanabata-Kuwabukuro Housing Estate, alight at ‘Soka Memorial Gymnasium’, then walk for 8 minutes.
Both the Tobu Line and the JR Tsukuba Express take around 10 to 20 minutes from Asakusa
Adachi Tourism Net https://www.adachikanko.net/en/spot/id-005
Japan travel about Otori shrine https://en.japantravel.com/tokyo/otori-shrine/60192
video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYztUx9rs-k
This article is based on visits of 19th, July, 2015 and 17th, July, 2017
A rare lion dance that can be seen in the wards of Tokyo
To put it bluntly, traditional folk arts can only be seen in remote areas. They are not passed down in the heart of the city. This is only to be expected, as it is virtually impossible to pass on such arts across generations in places where the population turns over so rapidly. In that sense, this lion dance can be said to be extremely valuable. Conversely, it shows that although this area is now a city, it used to be a rural area. That said, the shrine now stands right in the heart of a residential area.
The lion dance finished one performance this morning, and the afternoon session is about to begin. Apart from the central stage, you can watch from anywhere.
This is the form of the ‘three-lion dance’ commonly seen in the Kanto region and further east.
Whatever happened to the lioness?
The performance known as ‘The Hidden Female Lion’ is a classic lion dance piece.
Although there were originally three lions, for some reason only the female lion disappears.
The remaining two work together to start looking for her, but…
The lion who spotted the other first should have reported it straight away, but instead tries to play it down. He tries to play it down. It’s soon obvious. And so the battle between the two begins.
Whilst all this was going on, the lioness disappeared again… The same thing happened twice, and in the end, everything ended happily.
Hei gakari
A performance in which the performers become connected to something is called a ‘kakari’. This is a performance in which the performers become connected to Gohei (sacred objects).
Tuna (rope) gakari
Suddenly appearing, a mysterious rope. ‘What on earth is this?’ wondered the lions.
The Hanahata Lion Dance is about to begin—arguably the highlight of the performance.
And so, the lion pulled and pushed the rope with all his might. On either side, the men stood by, determined not to be outdone.
‘The next lion is still young, so he’s got plenty of strength,’ said the compère, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
‘Come on! There’s more to come!’
Even the security guard finds himself putting his all into it
at the end
Once the lion dancers have finished their dedication ceremony at Ōtori Shrine, they head to a temple called Fukuju-in, where they perform their final dance to bring the event to a close. According to legend, a long time ago, during a flood, a complete set of lion dance tools was washed ashore and kept by Fukuju-in. It is said that this lion dance was eventually created using those very tools.
It was already half past three in the afternoon. The heat was starting to ease off. The lion dance was over, but summer was far from over. So, where are the next masked characters?