Himeshima Bon Dance

姫島盆踊り

The Bon dance of Himeshima, an island off the Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita. Led by the Fox Dance of children dressed as foxes, traditional dances and new ones created every year are performed in turn at dance grounds in each of the island’s districts and on the harbour square. Held every year from 14 to 16 August.

14–16 August 2027

286 days away

Every year, 14 August, for 3 days

Future dates: 14 August 2027 · 14 August 2028 · 14 August 2029

Origin

It is said to have grown out of the nenbutsu dances of the Kamakura period. At the centre of each ring, a plain, old-style dance, the naka-odori, carries on without a break from beginning to end, while around it groups of dancers of the same generation from each district perform dances with inventive costumes and props. These outer dances were meant to be made anew each year; some, such as the Fox Dance and the Aya Dance, have been danced so often that they have become fixtures. In 2012 the Bon dance was selected by the national government as an intangible folk cultural property to be documented.

What to look for

Children dressed as foxes dance the Fox Dance to the drum, carrying large paper parasols. The other traditional dances, the Aya Dance, the coin drum and Sarumaru Dayū, are carried on by the district’s children and the islanders. The newly created dances delight onlookers with humour and elaborate costumes, and fresh ones appear every year. A drum stands at the centre of each dance ground, and the visiting groups form a wide ring outside the dancers circling it. Having danced at the ground of their own district, the groups make the round of the other districts’ grounds and the central square by the harbour. Of the three days, the first two, the 14th and 15th, are the liveliest, with extra late-night ferries back to the mainland.

How to watch

The Bon dance is the islanders’ own Bon observance; when a district has a household in its first Bon since a death, the memorial tablets and lanterns are gathered at the dance ground for a dance of remembrance. The dancing takes place at night, on the island’s central square, the ferry square at Himeshima Port, and at the dance grounds of each district. You reach the island by ferry, so plan around your return sailing.

If you go

If you go, go to the central square by the harbour on the night of 14 or 15 August. Himeshima is about 20 minutes by the village’s Himeshima Ferry from Imi Port in Kunisaki City, itself about 50 minutes by car from Oita Airport. On the nights of the 14th and 15th, extra late-night sailings take visitors back to the mainland after the dancing. Check the sailing times and how tickets are sold in the guidelines the village publishes each year.

Where

Himeshima island (Himeshima Port ferry square and district dance grounds)

Himeshima, Ōita

Open in maps

Sources

← All festivals