Nagasaki Kunchi
Background
The event began as a celebration of autumn harvests in the late 16th century and became a shrine festival when Suwa Shrine was founded in 1614. The name kunchi is derived from the word kunichi (九日, the ninth day of the ninth lunar month of the year). The festival originally began on the seventh day of the month and lasted through the ninth day, maintained today as Okunchi's start date of October 7 and end date of October 9.
According to local explanation, another purpose was to check for hidden Christians after the ban on Christianity. This is still evident today in the custom of garden showing (庭見せ, niwamise), when the presenting neighbourhoods open up their homes to public scrutiny.
Performances
One of the most famous performances of the festival is the Dragon Dance ( jaodori (龍踊り, dragon dance)), which was originally performed on New Year's Eve by the Chinese residents of Nagasaki. Rehearsals for the festival begin on June 1. The festival includes a number of other folk performing arts, including kujira no shiofuki (鯨の潮吹き, the blowing of the whale), kokkodesho (コッコデショ, drum dance), and Oranda manzai (阿蘭陀万才, Dutch dance).
See also
References
- ^ Hesselink, Reinier H. (2004). "The Two Faces of Nagasaki: The World of the Suwa Festival Screen". Monumenta Nipponica. 59 (2): 179–222. ISSN 0027-0741. JSTOR 25066290.
- ^ Lancashire, Terence A. (2016-04-15). An Introduction to Japanese Folk Performing Arts. Routledge. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-317-18169-9.
External links
- (in Japanese) Nagasaki Dento Geino Shinko-kai
- (in Japanese) Nagasaki Kunchi, Nagasaki Shimbun