Shodon Shibaya

A Village Theatre Recalling Early Kabuki

The Shodon Shibaya (諸鈍芝居) is a kind of village theatre and dance performed at the harvest moon festival in Shodon, Setouchi Town, Oshima District, Kagoshima Prefecture, which in 1976 was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs classifies it as folk performing art, with the Shodon Shibaya Preservation Society as preservation body.

According to the Agency, it is performed at the festival of the fifteenth night of the eighth lunar month, shaped by early modern song-and-dance forms but adapted to local taste, with strong regional character.

The Performance

According to the Agency, the performers first purify themselves in the sea, then process into the dance ground of the shrine with nanban movements and enter the dressing room.

At the clack of wooden clappers, the elder Onushi appears, offers words of celebration and introduces each piece. The repertoire includes more than ten items such as Sanbaso, Kokoha-bushi, Kenko-bushi, a lion dance and a snake dance performed with a puppet.

What to Look For

The Agency notes that its mix of dance, comic plays and puppets and its style of performance recall early kabuki. Its photographs show performers in paper masks.

The sequence from sea purification and procession to the elder's greeting and introductions shows the play as a village festival.

Visiting the Shodon Shibaya

It is performed at the harvest moon festival on the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month; check the date each year with Setouchi Town.

Before designation, it had also been selected for documentation.