Category:

Municipally Designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property

Title:

Fukasaku sasara shishimai

Fukasaku Sasara Lion Dance

深作ささら獅子舞

Designated:

May 15, 1958

Preservation Group:

The Fukasaku Sasara Lion Dance Preservation Society

Location:

Hikawa-jinja Shrine

2-15-4 Fukasaku, Minuma Ward

Event Date:

The third or fourth Saturday of August

Description:

This tradition is said to have been developed in the Edo period (1603-1868) by Tokimasa (?), the founder of Fukasaku Kakuzoin Temple, and Seihan(?),  who oversaw the temple’s restoration.

Three lions (a large lion, a medium lion, and a lioness) dance under a massive tent borne on four pillars that mark out a sumo ring. The lively dance is a prayer for good harvest and the eradication of illness.

As the lions dance, a tengu (a long-nosed, supernatural creature from Japanese folklore) runs around and causes mischief amidst the crowd. Getting pulled into the sumo ring by the tengu is considered to be a sign of coming fortune, so many people with small children attend this performance.

Associated Texts:

(1960). “Cultural Properties in Omiya” (vol. 1). Omiya Municipal Board of Education.

(1965). “Cultural Properties in Omiya”. Omiya Municipal Board of Education.

(1986). “Cultural Properties in Omiya” (vol. 2). Omiya Board of Education.

Please be courteous towards other visitors and the site’s owners/curators when visiting this cultural property.

Inquiries (Japanese only)

Cultural Heritage Preservation Division, Department of Lifelong Learning, Board of Education Secretariat　

TEL：048-829-1723 FAX：048-829-1989

https://www.city.saitama.jp/004/005/006/001/019/012/003/p000480.html