Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties of Nagano

Held each December in the secluded mountain hamlets of Nagano's Toyama Valley, the Toyama no Shimotsuki Matsuri is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan. Masked deities dance around boiling cauldrons through the night, and bare-handed performers fling sacred steaming water over worshippers in a ritual of renewal. Famously cited by Hayao Miyazaki as an inspiration behind 'Spirited Away,' it has been preserved for more than seven centuries.

Discover Yuki Matsuri, a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property held every January 14–15 at Izu Shrine in Niino, Anan Town, Nagano. This all-night ritual preserves dengaku, kagura, bugaku, sarugaku, and ta-asobi in their early forms and is regarded as a living origin of Noh and Kyōgen. Folklorist Shinobu Orikuchi called it a festival every student of Japanese performing arts must see at least once.