Intangible Folk Cultural Properties Requiring Documentation of Japan

Discover the Sanpoku Botamochi Festival, an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property held in the small coastal communities of Murakami City, Niigata. This unique ritual combines harvest thanksgiving, prayers for prosperity, and a communal initiation ceremony through the making and sharing of giant rice cakes.

Held each August in Horinouchi, Niigata, Dai no Saka is a slow bon dance sung over a seven-beat drum to honor the dead, listed by UNESCO as a Furyu-odori in 2022.

Nanbu Koma Odori is a vibrant folk dance from Aomori Prefecture that dramatizes the historic wild horse roundups of the former Nanbu Domain. With over 400 years of history, dancers wearing wooden horse frames perform dynamic choreography accompanied by taiko drums and flutes, preserving the equestrian heritage of one of Japan's most celebrated horse-breeding regions. Designated as an Aomori Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property and nationally selected for preservation.

Hachinohe Enburi is a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property held every February 17–20 in Hachinohe, Aomori. Dancers wearing spectacular horse-head eboshi headdresses perform an 800-year-old harvest prayer ritual to awaken the sleeping earth and welcome spring to northern Japan.

Discover Inatori no Hammaasama, a nationally selected intangible folk cultural property in Higashiizu Town, Shizuoka. This small New Year fire festival blends Sengen mountain worship with the maritime folk customs of an Izu Peninsula fishing community.

Koina no Toramai is a rare tiger dance tradition in the fishing village of Koina, Minamiizu Town, Shizuoka Prefecture. Designated as a Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property, this dramatic performance adapts the tiger-hunting scene from Chikamatsu Monzaemon's 1715 puppet play "The Battles of Coxinga." Performed on the eve of the harvest moon at a seaside stage, the dance features acrobatic tiger movements and a dramatic battle with the hero Watōnai. In bountiful harvest years, a dragon also appears for the spectacular Dragon-Tiger Dance.

A nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property preserved for over 400 years in a mountain village of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. This medieval dengaku-nō festival features thirteen ritual performances culminating in the spectacular Oni no Mai, where three masked demons strike blazing torches in darkness.

On Japan's Noto Peninsula, about 200 districts carry giant lantern towers to escort the gods to waterside torches on summer nights. Nationally selected in 1997.

Each autumn on Chiba's Boso Peninsula, shrines are carried into the sea to pray for harvest and a good catch, a coastal custom alive at Ichinomiya and Ohara.

Each April 22 at Shitennoji in Osaka, bugaku court dances unfold on a stone stage during the Shoryo-e memorial rite for Prince Shotoku, an ancient guild tradition.

The sixty wooden kugutsu puppets preserved at Koyo Shrine in Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture, represent Japan's oldest known puppet tradition, tracing their origins to the Hayato Rebellion of 720 CE. Holding dual designations as both an Important Tangible and Intangible Folk Cultural Property, the ritual dance and sumo performed with these puppets once every three years is considered the living root of Japan's entire puppet theater heritage, including Bunraku.

Ōmondē is a Nationally Selected Intangible Folk Cultural Property performed on the remote volcanic island of Saganoshima in Gotō City, Nagasaki Prefecture. This ancient nenbutsu memorial dance, held every August 14 during Obon, captivates with its exotic southern-style costumes, haunting yodel-like chanting, and mysterious incantations derived from Buddhist scriptures. Discover this rare window into Japan's deep spiritual and folk heritage.

Discover Kuromaru Odori, a 500-year-old folk dance from Omura, Nagasaki featuring massive 5-meter flower wheels. A nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, performed every November 28th at Hoyodo Hall.

A vivid autumn ritual held in Daihogo on Fukue Island in the Goto Islands of Nagasaki Prefecture. Straw-cloaked youths called Sandora chase spectators and throw beach sand at houses to drive away epidemics and pray for abundant harvests and good health. Designated a Selected Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1979 and a Nagasaki Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1982, it preserves an archaic stratum of Japanese folk culture.

Ja-odori (Dragon Dance) is a spectacular folk performing art designated as a Nagasaki Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property, performed during the Nagasaki Kunchi festival at Suwa Shrine every October. Originating from Chinese dragon dances at the Edo-period Tōjin Yashiki (Chinese Quarter), this 300-year-old tradition features a 20-meter dragon chasing a golden orb, accompanied by the distinctive Tōgaku-byōshi music ensemble representing wind, thunder, and rain.

Witness Takenge, a breathtaking aerial acrobatic ritual performed annually on October 14 and 15 at Wakamiya Inari Shrine in Nagasaki. Two performers in fox masks scale ten-meter bamboo poles without safety lines, executing daring feats to flute, drum, and shamisen accompaniment. Designated a Selected Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 2003, this nearly two-century-old tradition fuses Shinto devotion with acrobatic spectacle. Discover its history, highlights, and visitor information.

Discover the extraordinary customs of Nagasaki's 'Kakure Kirishitan' — Hidden Christians who preserved their faith for over 400 years through centuries of persecution. From the ancient prayers called Oratio to sacred objects and rituals on the martyrdom island of Nakaenoshima, explore a religious tradition unlike any other in the world.

Hirado Kagura is a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property performed at shrines across the former Hirado Domain in Nagasaki Prefecture. Comprising 24 programs of sacred torimono kagura dance, this tradition originated from Iki Island rituals in the 16th century and was refined into its present form during the Edo period. Performed exclusively by hereditary Shinto priests, the full Daidai-Kagura is presented once a year at Kameoka Shrine on October 26.

Hirado no Jangara is a Buddhist invocational dance performed in nine districts of Hirado City, Nagasaki, from August 14 to 18 each year. Dancers in paper-flower-adorned sedge hats move to gongs and waist-drums in a tradition dating back before the Warring States period. It is a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list as part of Furyu-odori.

Hetomato is a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property held every January in the Shimozakiyama district of Goto City, Nagasaki Prefecture. This enigmatic festival features a remarkable succession of rituals including dedicatory sumo, battledore, ball-scrambling, tug-of-war, and the spectacular procession of a giant straw sandal. Discover its mysterious origins, cultural significance, and how to experience this one-of-a-kind celebration on the remote Goto Islands.