Gagaku at shrines and temples
In addition to concerts mounted by the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency, these are many other opportunities to see and hear gagaku in performance. The palace musicians instruct many private groups, and recent decades have seen the formation of new groups of professional gagaku musicians, as well as of groups of amateur aficionados. In addition, there are many groups who sustain the performance traditions of gagaku at Japan’s Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.
Information on performances of gagaku in religious contexts is available on the homepages of shrines, temples, and local governments, while a Japanese-language bulletin with the latest information, Gagaku-dayori, is published by the Gagaku Kyōgi-kai four times a year.
Perhaps the easiest and most convenient way to see and hear gagaku is to attend ceremonies featuring it at shrines and temples throughout Japan. The following is a list of the major centers and their regular ceremonies, centering on those of a traditional nature.
Ceremonies including gagaku at shrines and temples throughout Japan
| Nikkō Tōshōgū | Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture |
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| Spring Festival (May 17–18); Autumn Festival (October 16–17) Azuma-asobi is performed by shrine priests at spring and autumn festivals. Dancers in traditional costume perform it at the Otabisho. |
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| Hikawa Jinja | Saitama, Saitama Prefecture |
| Regular Festival (August 1) Musicians and dancers of the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency are dispatched to the shrine to perform azuma-asobi. |
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| Meiji Jingū | Harajuku, Tokyo |
| Spring Festival (April 29 to May 3); Autumn Festival (November 1–3) The Gakuyū-kai, made up of musicians of the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency, perform on a stage erected for the purpose in the open area in front of the main building of the shrine. The performance takes the traditional form of a bugaku program, beginning with the purifying dance Enbu, and ending with an instrumental performance of Chōgeishi. The dances are the same as those presented at the spring and autumn concerts of the Music Department. |
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| Tsurugaoka Hachimangū | Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture |
| Festival in Commemoration of the Founding of the Shrine (December 16); Iris Festival
A part of the mikagura suite including the Ninjō-mai is performed before a fire in front of the Kagura-den on the evening of the December 16. A bugaku performance is presented at the Kagura-den by members of Tokyo Gakuso on the afternoon of the Iris Festival. The performance takes the traditional form of a bugaku program, beginning with the purifying dance Enbu, and ending with an instrumental performance of Chōgeishi. The other dances on the program differ each year. |
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| Atsuta Jingū | Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture |
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| Bugaku Ceremony (May 1); Tōka Ceremony (January 11) For the Bugaku Ceremony, a stage is set up in front of the Western Music Office, said to have been rebuilt in the Edo period. Priests, female shrine attendants, and the gagaku group Kiritake-kai undertake the performance, which takes the traditional form of a bugaku program, beginning with the purifying dance Enbu, and ending with an instrumental performance of Chōgeishi. The other dances on the program differ each year. The Tōka Ceremony preserves elements of the Otoko-tōka (Men’s Stamping Dance) of the ancient imperial court. Saibara songs (such as Asa-hanada and Takekawa hanshu) are sung in ancient style. |
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| Nagoya Tōshōgū | Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture |
| Eve of the Tōshōgū Festival (April 16) A bugaku program is presented from about 17:00 on the eve of the Tōshōgū Festival. Based on practice dating from the Edo period, the performance takes the traditional form of a bugaku program, beginning with the purifying dance Enbu, and ending with an instrumental performance of Chōgeishi. The other dances on the program differ each year. |
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| Ise Jingū | Ise, Mie Prefecture |
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| Spring Kagura Festival (April 28–30); Autumn Kagura Festival (September 22–24) Bugaku dance is performed by musicians and female dancers trained by the shrine on a specially erected stage. The performance takes the traditional form of a bugaku program, beginning with the purifying dance Enbu, and ending with an instrumental performance of Chōgeishi. The other dances on the program differ each year. |
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| Yasaka Jinja | Kyoto |
| Regular Festival (June 15); bugaku performance at the Meiji Festival (November 3) Mikagura and azuma-asobi are performed at the Regular Festival, and bugaku dance at the Meiji Festival, on a stage erected for the purpose in the open area in front of the main building of the shrine. The bugaku program begins with the purifying dance Enbu, and ending with an instrumental performance of Chōgeishi. The other dances on the program differ each year. |
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| Iwashimizu Hachimangū | Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture |
| Iwashimizu Festival (September 15) The Dance of the Right Kochō is performed by the Heian Gagaku-kai at the Hōjō ceremony, a ceremony with Buddhist origins involving the release of captive living creatures. Although it died out in the medieval period, it has been revived and is now celebrated at its original site. In addition, there are ceremonial performances of bugaku dance (April 3) and twice-yearly performances of mikagura, during which the saibara song Yamashiro is sung in ancient style. |
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| Kamo Jinja (Shimo-gamo and Kami-gamo Shrines) | Kyoto |
| Aoi Matsuri (May 15) Azuma-asobi is performed in its traditional festival context, along with a presentation of horses to the shrine. Azuma-asobi begins as officials representing the Left and Right Imperial Stables parade the horses, and when the parade concludes, the Suruga and Motomego dances of the azuma-asobi suite are performed by the Heian Gagaku-kai. The dancers wear red outer robes, while the accompanying musicians wear violet robes in ban’e shōzoku (‘barbarian illustration’ costume) style. |
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| Fushimi Inari Taisha | Kyoto |
| Hitaki-sai (November 8) Firelight illuminates the evening performance of a number of songs from the mikagura cycle by shrine officials, with dance by the ninjō, the director of the ensemble. |
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| Kasuga Taisha | Nara |
| Wakamiya Onmatsuri (17 December) From 2 pm until about 10 pm, there are performances of kagura, azuma-asobi, and bugaku dance. Kasuga Taisha was one of the traditional centers of gagaku performance, and its performance tradition is now maintained by a private group, Nanto Gakuso. They sustain an active calendar, with performances on various occasions throughout the year of bugaku dance and kangen instrumental music, as well as pieces from the kuniburi-no-utamai genres of azuma-asobi and mikagura. |
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| Himuro Jinja | Nara |
| Kenpyōsai (May 1), Regular Festival (October 1) Gagaku has been performed at Himuro Jinja since the Edo period. At present, kuniburi-no-utamai genres and bugaku dance are performed at the Kenpyōsai, and bugaku dance at the Regular Festival, by the group Nanto Kōyō-kai, which maintains the traditions of the old Nara gagaku center. |
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| Tōshōdaiji | Nara |
| Bonmō-e (May 19) Tōshōdai-ji maintains a tradition of the performance of the Dance of the Right Bairo by priests, at the ceremony Bonmō-e. |
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| Kashihara Jingū | Kashihara, Nara Prefecture |
| Shōwasai (April 29) The kuniburi-no-utamai genre kume-mai is performed by 4 dancers and an accompanying ensemble at the Shōwasai, held on the birthday of the late Emperor Shōwa. |
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| Shitennōji | Osaka |
| Shōryō-e (April 22), Kyō-kuyō (October 22) The Shōryō-e is celebrated to honor the temple’s founder, Prince Shōtoku, on a stone stage in front of the Rokuji-dō hall. The corners of the stage are decorated with large red globes, representing the mañjūṣaka flowers of Buddhist heaven. The ceremony is held in traditional form, with interwoven Buddhist chant and bugaku dance. Dances held as offerings within the ritual include Soriko, Karyōbin, and Kochō, as well as two dances unique to Shitennōji, namely Bosatsu and Shishi. Bugaku dance is also performed at a sutra memorial ceremony on October 22. Shitennōji was one of the traditional centers of gagaku performance, and its performance tradition is now maintained by a private group, Tennōji Gakuso Garyō-kai. |
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| Sumiyoshi Taisha | Osaka |
| Unoha Shinji (1st Day of the Rabbit in May), Kangetsusai (evening of the full harvest moon)
Just inside the South Gate of the shrine there is a stone stage and facilities for accompanying musicians, where the members of the Tennōji Gakuso Garyō-kai group perform bugaku dance on the first Day of the Rabbit in May. The bugaku program takes the traditional format, beginning with the purifying dance Enbu and ending with an instrumental performance of Chōgeishi. Bugaku dance is also performed on the shrine’s ‘drum bridge’ on the evening of the full harvest moon. |
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| Dainenbutsuji | Osaka |
| Manbu-oneri (May 1–5) The Manbu-oneri ceremony combines two events related to Pure Land belief: a procession depicting the arrival of a welcoming retinue of Amida and attendant bodhisattvas, and 10,000 readings of the Amida Sutra. Gagaku is performed effectively as accompaniment. The piece Bosatsu (‘Bodhisattva’) is played as the 25 bodhisattvas cross over an elevated bridge constructed especially for the event. |
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| Itsukushima Jinja | Miyajima, Hiroshima Prefecture |
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| Tōka-sai (April 15), Kikka-sai (October 15) In these events, which celebrate the peach blossoms of spring and chrysanthemums of autumn, bugaku dance programs are presented on the stage that stands over the water on the seafront side of the main shrine building. The programs take the traditional format, beginning with the purifying dance Enbu and ending with an instrumental performance of Chōgeishi. Bugaku dance performances are mounted regularly throughout the year at Itsukushima Jinja. One especially important event is the performance of the dance Batō on January 5. This dance is passed from father to son within the family of Shinto priests of the shrine. |
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Information valid as of March 2014. Dates may differ.
