[Kyushu, Tomorrow's Legacy] Kumamoto, Itsuki & Gokanosho

The Kureko Dance
Remnants of the Heike forces who settled here remembered their lost capital of Kyoto with the kureko dance, passed down for nearly a thousand years and now a government-designated ‘Significant Intangible Folk Cultural Asset’. Participants wear a conical hat, with their faces hidden by the long black tail feathers of the ‘kureko fowl’, a rare type
of chicken originating in this area, and the dance tells of the sorrow of their ancestors
at being driven into exile. This elegant dance testifies to the dignity and strength
of people who, though fallen in the world, never lost their hope to survive.