''Dainichido Bugaku'' ( ja, links=no, 大日堂舞楽, meaning: Vairocana Temple Dance and Entertainment) is a yearly set of nine sacred ritual

dances Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its reperto ...

and

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, named for the imperial palace ensemble performances, "''

bugaku is a Japanese traditional dance that has been performed to select elites, mostly in the Japanese imperial court, for over twelve hundred years. In this way, it has been known only to the nobility, although after World War II, the dance was ope ...

''", and from the palace's ensemble's visit to Hachimantai, Kazuno District, Akita Prefecture, during the reconstruction of the local shrine pavilion, "''Dainichido''", in the early eighth century,Dainichido Bugaku
, ''UNESCO.org''. and their teaching of dances to the locals. Instruments include the flute and

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

. The order and number of dances has changed over time, with the current order of seven dances being the Gongen-mai, Koma-mai, Uhen-mai, Tori-mai, Godaison-mai, Kōshō-mai, and Dengaku-mai dances. Masks include representations of shishi and

Vairocana Vairocana (also Mahāvairocana, sa, वैरोचन) is a cosmic buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Vairocana is often interpreted, in texts like the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'', as the dharmakāya of the historical Gautama Buddha. In East ...

. The dances have a 1300-year history (

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the c ...

), and though interrupted for nearly sixty years in the late eighteenth century, the dances, some of which may include children or masks, are still practiced on January second from sunrise to noon in shrines throughout communities in Osato, Azukisawa, Nagamine, and Taniuchi, including Hachimantai. Yamaji Kōzō dates ''Dainichido Bugaku'' as arising during and after the

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

(CE 710 to 794) and mid-

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

s (CE 794 to 1185), after state support of Shinto temple complexes (originally ordered by

Emperor Shōmu was the 45th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 聖武天皇 (45)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 749, during the Nara period. Traditional narrative ...

(CE 701 – 756)) began to decline and court and temple performers took residence in local communities, which then preserved genres such as ''Dainichido Bugaku'' as folk arts.Thornbury, Barbara E. (1997). "Overview", ''The Folk Performing Arts: Traditional Culture in Contemporary Japan'', p.37. SUNY. . Als

References

{{coord, 40.1442, N, 140.8058, E, source:wikidata, display=title Dances of Japan Japanese music Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity Kazuno, Akita