神楽
Shinto ritual music
Kagura (神楽) is the music and dance of Shinto ritual: songs and dances offered to the kami, the gods, at shrine ceremonies and festivals. The word is usually explained as coming from kamukura, "seat of the gods", the place where the gods are invited to come down.
- 鶴岡八幡宮の秋の祭儀Tsurugaoka Hachimangū no aki no saigi — Autumn ceremony music at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū2:23
- 伏見稲荷の神事Fushimi Inari no shinji — Ceremony at Fushimi Inari4:33
Liner notes
Kagura is heard at shrines across Japan, and occasionally at Buddhist temples as well. Japanese sources divide it into two broad families: mikagura, the kagura of the imperial palace, and sato-kagura, the many forms of kagura found in towns and villages.
How to listen
The sound depends on which kagura you are hearing. Imperial mikagura belongs to the court tradition and is counted as part of gagaku. Its sacred songs, the kagura-uta, are sung by a male choir, with flutes such as the kagurabue or the hichiriki, the wagon zither and shakubyōshi, a pair of wooden clappers. The music is slow and formal, and it has long been performed at night around a bonfire.
Village kagura is often louder and more theatrical. Taiko drums frequently accompany it at local festivals. Listen too for bells. Shrine maidens (miko) often dance holding a kagura suzu, a short staff hung with tiers of small bells, and its rattle marks the dancer's movements. Many local forms add masks and act out stories from myth or from the history of the shrine.
A short history
Japan's oldest chronicles, the Kojiki and Nihon shoki, contain the legend most often told as kagura's origin. When the sun goddess Amaterasu hid in a cave and the world went dark, the goddess Ame-no-Uzume danced before the cave until the gods' laughter drew Amaterasu out. Kagura is said to descend from that dance.
Kagura is said to have reached its settled form by the middle of the Heian period. The palace kagura was formally established in 1002, or by another account 1005, at first every other year and later every year. A simplified version is still performed each December by the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency.
Away from the court, sato-kagura spread and changed. Scholars have grouped it into types, among them dances by shrine maidens, the Izumo style based on rites at Sada shrine, yudate kagura in which hot water is splashed to purify the dancers and onlookers, and shishi kagura, in which a lion's head stands for the deity. These categories often blur in practice. The sacred dance of Sada shrine and Hayachine kagura have both been inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible heritage. Kagura is also counted among the sources of noh theatre.
Start with
Both recordings on this page were made at shrine ceremonies. Start with the autumn ceremony music at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū (2017), then the ceremony at Fushimi Inari (2025), where taiko are part of the ensemble. More shrine and temple sound is gathered in Temples and shrines of Japan.
Questions
- What is kagura?
- Kagura is Shinto ritual music and dance, performed as an offering to the kami at shrines. It ranges from mikagura, the court rite of the imperial palace, to the many regional forms of village sato-kagura.
- What instruments are used in kagura?
- Imperial mikagura uses flutes or the hichiriki, the wagon zither and wooden clappers with a male choir. Village kagura often uses taiko drums and flutes, and dancers frequently carry kagura suzu bell-trees.
- What is the difference between mikagura and sato-kagura?
- Mikagura is the kagura of the imperial palace, performed by court musicians and counted as part of gagaku. Sato-kagura is the general name for kagura performed by local communities across Japan, in many regional styles.