Sasara Odori Dance (Tategami)
(Tategami, Ago-cho, Shima City)
　
1. The moving of beating a drum, the sound of it and the appearance the children of beating the Sasara seem to convey something timeless. (52-year-old woman, Ago-cho Shima City)
2. Our area tries to preserve the dance. Please come to see the dance. (72-year-old woman, Ago-cho Shima City)

The Origin of Sasara Dance

Sasara odori," a dance for Bon ceremony, is said to have started around 200 years ago. It is held every 5 years to pray for the repose of the souls of people who died during the last 5 years. Townspeople start from the building of the former Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Association of Tategami and come to Yakushi-do Temple. They hold a service for departed soul before they dance.

Sasara" Dance

Sasara is an instrument made of bamboo.

Elementary school children, in cotton kimonons and wearing a hat with flowers, dance in a circle while they play the Sasara to the rhythm of "Kanko" or a drum. People dance outside of the circle with bamboo sticks rolled in white cloth. At the end of the dance, they run around to the sound of a conch horn and they beat their bamboo sticks on each other.




Drum Beating

People in the middle of the circle beat a drum hanging around their necks. The children dance for 5 songs: Koodori, Ayaodori, Nagabyoshi, Kokiriko, Hikiodori to the drumbeat. The sounds of "Sasara, Kanko, the conch horn and the dances by children in flower hats enchanted you and makes you feel as if you were in another world.