Intangible Folk Cultural Properties Requiring Documentation of Hyogo

Discover Aogaki Okina Sanbasō, a nationally selected intangible folk cultural property in Tamba City, Hyogo. Experience this ancient ritual dance predating formal Noh theater, performed annually at Hachiman Shrine since the Muromachi period.

Every August 16th, the remote mountain village of Osugi in Yabu City, Hyogo Prefecture echoes with the rhythmic drumming of Zanzako Odori. Said to have been brought back from Nara's Kasuga Taisha in 1649 to ward off an epidemic, this 370-year-old drum dance is performed at Ninomiya Shrine by dancers hidden behind shocks of crimson hair—earning it the local nickname Oni Odori, the "Demon Dance," and national recognition as an intangible folk cultural property in 1973.