Designation Nationally-Designated
Classification Significant intangible folk cultural asset
Designated Date May 17, 1977
Designated Date in detail
Amount
Address Aza-Osawa,Hiraizumi
Holder
Retainer the Preservation Society of “Ennen no Mai”
Administrator
HomePage Hiraizumi's Cultural Heritage
Encyclopedia of Cultural Information in Iwate

Summary

Ennen no Mai (Longevity Dances) are performed following Jogyozanmai-Shuho (a special prayer rite) after Matara-jin Sai (the festival of Matara , the deity of harvests ), and is also called as “Dai-Houe” (Buddhist mass) or Haru-Shinji (spring rituals).
It has been performed as a ceremony inside sanctuary of Jogyo-do Hall. The performer prepare himself in sanctuary, and senior monk who perform the Noh musician come out from Rou-so room.
At the beginning, “Notto”(ritual prayer) of  “Ogan-enman”, “Sokusai-Enmei” and “Senshu-Banzai” are chanted. Then , followed by the dances of “Dengaku-odori”, “Romai”, “Karabyoshi”, “Roujo-Mai” “Jakujo-Mai” and “Kyodono-Mai”.

Generally speaking, “Ennen” is the very important fork culture in order to research the historical arts, like the court dance, music and Noh in mediaeval times. Particularly, this “ Motsu-ji Ennen” is incomparable and has great value, because of the near-perfect preservation of their original form.

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