Yoshihirogaku

Yoshihirogaku is a drum dance offered at Gakuniwa Hachiman Shrine in Yoshihiro, Musashi-machi, Kunisaki City, to ward off insect pests and pray for abundant harvests. Tradition says the local lords, the Yoshihiro clan, began it in the Nanbokucho period; after it lapsed, it was revived in the Genroku era to ward off insect damage. Forty-nine musicians, including flute players, kane bell players and nenbutsu chanters, form three groups, and the drum dancers, such as the ondo and hagaku, dance while beating drums on their chests, facing one another and leaping past each other.

• Banners dyed with a left-turning triple-comma crest, and jingasa hats or helmets

• A piece called Nenbutsu, in which the nenbutsu is chanted

• One full round of all 14 pieces takes more than an hour