Hi guys,

It is the tail end of the cherry blossom festival at Iwashimizu Hachimangu, so I thought I'd share a recording of a bugaku performance I saw there. As this is one of the less famous Japanese dances (compared to like Obon dances or geisha performances), here's some context:

Bugaku is a collection of dances brought to Japan around the 8th century from China, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia, which were performed for the imperial court. The accompanying music is known as gagaku and may very well be the oldest continuous orchestral tradition to still exist (though I doubt it is exactly the same now, as it was 1300 years ago).

Hachiman is, in turn, a tutelary deity from Kyushu, who was later raised to the status of the "protector of the country," and, eventually, as Buddhism spread across Japan from the capital, also the "defender of Buddhism." As Hachiman is also conflated with the legendary Emperor Ojin, the bugaku performance fits with the practice of including bugaku in rituals and celebrations associated with the imperial family.

This particular dance is said to come from China and celebrate Gao Changgong (Prince of Lanling's) victory over the Northern Zhou in 564, and is often incorporated into various rituals as a rain prayer. Myself, I first saw this dance at Kifune shrine, which is devoted to a water deity, during their "water festival." It is said that dragons are associated with water (and an alternative origin story for the dance involves Eight Great Dragon Kings), but I wonder if this water connection comes from the drum part in the intro being reminiscent of the sound of rainfall.

If you are interested in more details about bugaku, I recommend this site:

[https://www.aisf.or.jp/\~jaanus/deta/b/bugakumen.htm](https://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/b/bugakumen.htm) 

A bugaku performance at Otokoyama Sakura Matsuri at Iwashimizu Hachimangu