August Dance - Hachigatsuodori

This dance is danced in the harvest festival in August of the lunar calendar in the Osumi Peninsula and Satsunan Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, Okinawa Island in Okinawa Prefecture, and Tarama Island in the Miyako Islands. However, it is thought that there is little connection between these dances. In the Osumi Peninsula, it is often danced in mid-August. In the former Takayama area of ​​Kimotsuki Town, Kimotsuki County, the August dance is held on the 18th, and the Water God Festival is held in the evening, after which young men and women dance the August Dance. Generally, men wear crested haori and shingasa (rush hat), while women wear kimono with patterned hems and kosozukin (Japanese traditional hats), and dance around a tower all night to the accompaniment of singing, drums, shamisen, and kokyu (Japanese traditional instrument). In Amami, it is danced on the third August (Arasetsu, Shibasashi, Donga) and at the Full Moon Festival. Some people hold drums, and the men's and women's groups dance in a circle, singing to each other. On the main island of Okinawa, the local village games (harvest festival) held around the 15th day of the lunar month are sometimes called August Dances. The August Dance of Tarama Island, designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan, was formerly called August Gongan, and is now also called the Harvest Festival. Over the course of three days, 60 to 70 performances are performed, including dancing, kumiodori, and lion dances.

[Masahiro Nishikado]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

鹿児島県の大隅(おおすみ)半島、薩南(さつなん)諸島、沖縄県の沖縄本島、宮古(みやこ)列島の多良間(たらま)島などで旧暦8月の収穫祭に踊られる踊り。しかし、これら所々の踊りは脈絡するところは少ないとみられている。大隅半島では8月中旬に踊る所が多い。肝属(きもつき)郡肝付(きもつき)町旧高山(こうやま)町地区は18日で、夕刻に水神祭を執行し、そののち青年男女を中心に八月踊を踊る。おおむね男は紋付羽織に芯笠(しんがさ)（藺(い)笠）、女は裾(すそ)模様の着付にお高祖頭巾(こそずきん)で、歌に太鼓、三味線、胡弓(こきゅう)の伴奏入りで櫓(やぐら)の周りを夜を徹して踊る。奄美(あまみ)では三八月(みはちがつ)（新節(あらせつ)、柴挿(しばさし)、嫩芽(どんが)）や十五夜祭に踊る。一部の人が手に太鼓を持ち、男組と女組が一つ輪の中で歌を掛け合いながら踊る。沖縄本島では旧8月15日を中心に催す土地の村遊び（豊年祭）を八月踊とよぶことがある。国の重要無形民俗文化財に指定されている多良間島の八月踊は古くは八月御願といい、いまは豊年祭ともいっているが、3日間にわたって踊り、組踊、獅子舞(ししまい)など60、70演目を尽くす。

［西角井正大］

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