HOME Back

My Favorites

${v.title}

${v.desc | trunc(25)}

${v.title}

${v.desc | trunc(25)}

View All

Use the

Planning a Trip to Japan?

Share your travel photos with us by hashtagging your images with #visitjapanjp

None

Ozu’s Kawabe Shime Kagura

HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Ozu’s Kawabe Shime Kagura

Be mesmerized by this Shinto ritual dance performance in an Ehime castle town

Destination Management Organization KITA-Management

From late March until mid-April, shrines along Ehime Prefecture’s Kawabe Valley, near the castle town of Ozu, host a spiritual dance performance known as the Shime Kagura. It has been performed in the mountainous fringes of Ozu for over two centuries. Tales of unrequited love and bewitching dragons are enacted to the percussive sounds of drums and flutes; it’s both a purification observance and a celebration of the coming of spring that has been designated Intangible Cultural Heritage by Ehime.

Originally related to the purification dances of Izumo-taisha, one of Japan’s most important Shinto shrines, the Shime Kagura has gradually blended with local beliefs and customs, giving birth to a dance that expresses both suffering and compassion. A short version of the dance is performed to welcome guests staying at Ozu Castle, one of the very few castles in Japan where it is possible to stay overnight.

How to get there

From Kansai International Airport, take a flight to Matsuyama Airport. From Matsuyama Airport, take the Iyotetsu Bus or Airport Shuttle Bus to Matsuyama Station (about 15 minutes). From JR Matsuyama Station, take the JR Limited Express Uwakai Line to Uchiko Station (about 30 minutes). From there it is about 40 minutes by car to Kawabe Valley.

1664 Kawasaki Kawabe-cho, Ozu-shi, Ehime-ken