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詳細表示 (Complete Article)

カテゴリー1： 5. Rites and Festivals
カテゴリー2： Performing Arts
Title
Kagura
Text
A ritual performance made as an offering to the kami. Most are performed only once a year or once every few years. The kami are invited (see kanjō) to occupy the sacred area and worshiped with performances of music, song, and dance.
The prevailing theory regarding the etymology of kagura is that it is a corruption of the word kamukura (seat of the god). Amenozumenomikoto's comic performance of divine possession (kamigakari) before the door of the rock cave where the sun kami Amaterasu had gone into hiding is recorded in the Kojiki with the words, "asobi o shi," the character for "asobi" being 楽, the second character in kagura (the first being kami, "deity" or "divinity"). The characters used in the Kogoshūi (807) to refer to the Settling of the Soul Ritual (chinkon no gi) performed in the Imperial Palace by Sarumenokimi (allegedly a descendant of Amanouzume) are神楽, the same as those used for the word kagura. How these two characters were pronounced during the ninth century is unknown but the ancient form of kagura is said to have consisted of kamiasobi used to accompany the Settling of the Soul (tamashizume) and tamafuri rituals. The Kokinshū (920?) poetry anthology includes among its "kamiasobi no uta" a song about objects people hold (torimono uta; see torimono) that appears to be a mikagura, a kagura type associated with the Imperial Court. In the present day, kagura are performed in a variety of forms throughout the country, but one can broadly classify them as either the mikagura of the Imperial Court or the satokagura of the nonofficial or private sphere.

Mikagura of the Imperial Court

The ancient name for mikagura was naishidokoro no mikagura. One theory holds that naishidokoro no mikagura originated with Emperor Ichijō in 1002, but regardless naishidokoro no mikagura became a annual ritual of the 12th month from 1087 during the time of the cloistered Emperor Horikawa. Numerous rituals that had long been performed at the Imperial Palace were brought together in the creation of naishidokoro mikagura, including the Chinkon-sai to "call back" and pacify the spirits of emperors; the Kinkashin'en (琴歌神宴) in the Seishodō (a building at the palace) during the Daijōsai; the ritual offerings of the Sononarabikarakami festival in the Imperial Palace; the kagura of the kaeridachi of the Kamo irregular festival; and the spring and winter kagura held at Iwashimizu Hachimangū.
Naishidokoro no kagura performances took place in the forecourt of the naishidokoro (the present day kashikodokoro) where the Sacred Mirror is enshrined. A bonfire would be lit and the musicians seated facing the naishidokoro in two groups, the one on the left known as the motokata and that on the right known as the suekata. The seat for ninjō, the leader of the performance, was placed to the rear. In the evening, when the emperor appeared the musicians would perform the Bonfire Song (Niwabi no kyoku) as a kind of prelude. This was followed by ajime ritual and then the kagura began. The songs that make up the kagura were broken down by type—torimono, ōsaibari, kosaibari, and zōka—and performed in sequence. In the Heian period, sake would be passed around when the karakami piece came to an end; as that was taking place, during that intermission, such entertainments as a Yamato-mai or a humorous sangaku impersonations performance by an individual known as the zai no onoko.
Musical accompaniment for the mikagura is produced by the kagurabue (a transverse flute), the hichiriki (a small double reed recorder), the wagon (a six-stringed zither), and shakubyōshi (wooden clappers used to mark time). The primary focus of the ritual was the exchange of songs between the motokata and suekata in a call and response fashion; the motokata performing kamiuta like torimono uta, and the suekata performing works with ancient folk song texts like saibari. However, the focus shifted to the ninjō during the performances of the hayakarakami in the torimono section and the sonokoma in the zōka section, at which points he will pick up a branch of sakaki to which rings have been attached and dance. This branch would be presented to the emperor after the end of an all-night mikagura performance. The number of pieces has been reduced, reorganized, and simplified in contemporary performances of mikagura, but the form and contents of the ritual remain much the same. The musicians of the Imperial Household Agency music department conduct the customary December mikagura in the forecourt of the kashidokoro, and also take part in the Daijōsai and other ritual functions.

Satokagura

Satokagura refers to all forms of kagura occurring outside of the Imperial Palace. Many of the kagura formerly transmitted by shinshoku and shugen (mountain ascetics) were also taken up by commoners after the Meiji Restoration. Popular kagura is widely distributed in numerous styles, and the differences both major and minor in terms of structure, contents, and general form between the kagura of different regions and sites are remarkable. While the situation that this presents is a complex one, satokagura nonetheless can be broadly classified as being of four types: miko kagura, Izumo-ryū kagura, Ise-ryū kagura, and shishi (lion) kagura.
In miko kagura—also referred to as mikomai—one or several miko take up such torimono as bells, folding fans (ōgi), fronds of bamboo, or sakaki, and dance at either at the haiden or within the shrine precincts. Mikomai performances also take place as part of the Chinkonsai and the Sononarabikarakamisai at the Imperial Court, and in the mikagura at Iwashimizu Hachimangū. Mikomai were a part of the kagura from very early on at Sumiyoshi Taisha, Kasuga Taisha and the Grand Shrines of Ise. One of the miko's duties was to be possessed by a kami or some other spirit (kamigakari) and be its oracle (takusen). The reversal of the circumambulation leading to the possession of the miko by the spirit had once characterized the mikomai, but the mikomai of the present day have become refined, elegant dances. The possession and oracular aspects are only formalistically apparent in, for example, the mikomai in the Shimotsuki-kagura at Mt. Horowa in Ōmorichō, Akita Prefecture, and the mikomai of Kuromori Shrine in Iwate Prefecture.
The Izumo-ryū kagura (Izumo-style kagura) is widely distributed, found in areas ranging from the Chūgoku region to western Japan, including Shikoku and Kyūshū. The kagura that accompanies the Gozakae ritual at Sada Shrine in Kashima-chō, Yatsuka-gun, Shimane Prefecture, is said to have become the focal point for kagura in the Izumo region. Called Sada shin'nō since the Meiji period, this kagura developed from the shichiza rituals of the torimonomai and the masked shin'nō (sacred Noh) performances that dramatized sacred myths and shrine omens. Kagura of this sort spread throughout the aforementioned regions and constitute the largest group of kagura that are referred to as Izumo-ryū kagura. Of the kagura in this vein there are some in which aspects of spirit possession are apparent such as in the Ōmoto kagura and the Kōjin kagura of the Chūgoku region. The Daidai kagura found in the area stretching from Kantō-Kōshin to the Tōhoku regions and the satokagura performed by kagura dancers in Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Saitama also constitute another variety of Izumo-ryū kagura.
Ise-ryū kagura is also known as Yudate kagura or Shimotsuki kagura. The Yudate kagura, which was conducted at the Outer Shrine of the Grand Shrines of Ise, would later be performed at the residence of the Ise's oshi (a shrine functionary) until the Meiji Restoration. Many kagura in this style are widely distributed under a variety of names such as Hana matsuri, Shimotsuki matsuri, and Fuyu matsuri in the mountainous region that stretches to Nagano Prefecture from the Okumikawa district in Aichi Prefecture. A large pot will be placed at the festival site and a yudate rite performed as an offering for the gods while all around it torimonomai and masked dances take place all through the night. In the Shimotsuki kagura held at Mt. Horowa in Akita, the miko are the focus as they perform the yudate rite and a mikomai as a type of kitō (a magico-religious invocation).
There are two strands of shishi kagura. One branch comprises such rituals as the yamabushi kagura of Iwate Prefecture, the bangaku of Yamagata and Akita prefectures, and the nōmai of the Shimokita Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture. The other branch includes such rituals as the Dai-kagura of the Grand Shrines of Ise. In both types, the lion's head is offered up as the object of worship (shintai) and oharai (purification rite) and kitō are carried out by shaking the lion's head. The shishimai (gongenmai) is at the heart of the Yamabushi kagura and other shishi kagura of the former type. The kagura that are performed incorporate wild dances in the style of shugen (mountain ascetics) as well as dances that abound with the more artistic touches of the nō style. In the case of the Dai kagura, the ritualists tour widely throughout the country and perform sangaku-style acrobatics as a sideshow to the shishimai along with kyōgen plays with the lions as actors.
All of the foregoing types of kagura are structured into three sections in which the god is greeted, entertained, and seen off. Many of the popular kagura have become firmly established as a ritual performance art in villages wherein the kami is welcomed to a sacred spot and prayers are offered for good harvests, health and long life, and the like. The diffusion of satokagura in all its types and varieties testifies to its importance.
— Takayama Shigeru

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

The Daidai Kagura is a type of Satokagura, in which dancers perform for a general audience.
2007年 **月 **日
Ōsawa Kōji

A performance of Edo Satokagura at Shinagawa Jinja._Ichida Masataka___2007****_Tokyo