👹🥁 NAMAHAGE DRUMMING RHYTHM of JAPAN AKITA WONDERFUL FEST 2020 Yoyogi Park TOKYO

AKITA WONDERFUL FEST 2020 presents NAMAHAGE Traditional Wadaiko rhythms DRUMMING! The Oga Peninsula of Akita is home to Namahage,—a kind of demon-like ogre who roam the region in winter looking for lazy or disobedient children. The Namahage Sedo Festival is a traditional event that began in 1964, which combines the folklore tradition of ‘Namahage’ and the sacred Shinto ritual of ‘Saitousai’ into one main spectacle. Thanks to their cultural significance, Oga’s Namahage were added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in November 2018, to join seven other prefectures similarly offering raiho-shin rites, where people don masks or costumes to become certain deities. Who are the Namahage? If people, especially children or young wives, sit around the fire for too long without working or studying, the fire will damage their skin. This legend comes from fact: in olden days, people sat around a fire pit called “irori” and if they sat around too long, their skin could get slightly burned. It was said that the Namahage would notice this and come out with a knife and slice off the damaged skin. That alone is terrifying enough to keep busy. So for that reason today’s Namahage always carry a fake knife.
The festival itself is held on the second Friday, Saturday and Sunday of February every year. The namahage will come down the mountain at around 7:30pm. The festival starts around 6pm and there’s a giant bonfire in the center of the town’s main square. At 7:25pm, fifteen namahage descend from the mountain, each carrying a torch. They make their way through the crowd shouting, “Are there any crybabies around?” (Nakuko wa inee ga?) or “Are there any naughty kids around?” (Wariko wa inee ga?) in local Akita dialect. As they make their way through the crowds, they grab kids that they suspect are naughty or lazy, setting them straight forever. This is the climax of the evening: the sound of taiko drums, the snow falling, the shouts of namahage on loud speakers, the giant bonfire and the screams of children. The atmosphere is really electrifying and they will check every inch of the square looking for children, they are scary enough that children will usually behave better after seeing them. We are so lucky to get to see some of them IN TOKYO NOW!!! You can still see them perform TODAY from 12:30 and 13:30 in Yoyogi Park!