Morioka’s Sansa Odori Festival Dances the Demon Away

Morioka Sansa Odori Festival, 2018
It's a must see event if you'll be in Japan in August. Learn about the history and tradition behind the Morioka Sansa Odori Festival.

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Morioka is becoming a hot new tourist destination in Japan. From its traditional dishes such as wanko soba to its historic architecture and great coffee, there are many reasons to recommend this city to travelers looking to see something different.

August in Iwate Prefecture brings yet another reason to visit this splendid city. The month opens with a bang in the old Morioka Castle town amidst song and dancing in the streets. Here’s what you need to know about the Morioka Sansa Odori festival.

The Legend of the Handprint in Stone

Morioka Sansa Odori Festival
Picture: Bea Faling / Shutterstock

The Morioka Sansa Odori– the Morioka Sansa Dance– is one of Japan’s many Obon dances. It has its origins in the same legend that is said to give Iwate Prefecture its name.

The story goes that once upon a time, an oni named Rasetsu was terrifying the people in that region. The kami of Mitsuishi Shrine told them to bring this oni to the kami’s shrine. When they did, the kami had the oni leave a mark of its pledge to never bother anyone again by leaving its handprint on one of the shrine’s sacred stones.

With its promise now literally written in stone, the oni no longer troubled the people. The Morioka denizens, in their joy, danced in the streets. This began the tradition of what is now called the Morioka Sansa Odori– the Morioka Sansa Dance.

There are many legends of oni in the Tohoku region, some of them believed to be stories of local Emishi resistance to the Yamato court’s growing control starting in the Heian era. This story, like the others I’ve encountered, ends not with the oni’s death but rather with a new balance established.

This is not the only version of the story. Another has it that this dance’s origins are in a dance of warriors praying for victory in battle. This version of the story is reminiscent of the name and legend behind the popular Miyagi folk song Sansa Shigure, which is ascribed to Date Masamune after his victory at Suriagehara.

And indeed, the stones, still bearing the oni Rasetsu’s purported handprint, are still there at Mitsuishi Shrine, to which the dance is still partly intended as an offering.

A Lordly Connection

The second Nanbu Toshimochi in his court garb.
The second Nanbu Toshimochi in his court garb. (PD)

Today, the Morioka Sansa Festival is known as one of the Tohoku region’s 5 big festivals. The other four are the nearly contemporary Sendai Tanabata, the Aomori Nebuta, the Akita Kanto, and the Yamagata Hanagasa.

Originally, there were several Obon dances in the area that now comprises Morioka City. But in the early 19th century, Lord Nanbu of Morioka ordered the creation of a unified repertoire and set of standard dances for this festival.

This was most likely during the reign of the second Nanbu Toshimochi. This was the daimyo of Morioka whom the domain surreptitiously elevated to daimyo after his predecessor died before having an audience with the shogun and having his status confirmed, and to whom they gave the name of his immediate predecessor. The two men are counted as one in the Nanbu lineage.

The new, systematized dance tradition– now involving lanterns and costumes– was transmitted in the former village of Sanbonyanagi, where the locals also kept the written tradition of the dance. It’s this dance that’s the principal origin of the dance as seen in Morioka, though other communities beyond the city have their own, similar dances.

A World-Famous Festival

Morioka Sansa Odori Festival
Picture: photo_uny_llc / PIXTA(ピクスタ)

In its modern form as a tourist attraction, the Morioka Sansa Festival has existed since 1978. However, it’s not the only one in the region that’s gotten a new lease on life.

The Sendai Tanabata Festival is another old local observance that has taken on a new form since the mid-20th century, after briefly dying out immediately before and then during the Second World War. There is a parade with Japanese drums and yokobue (a transverse flute) on Morioka’s Chuo-dori Avenue before the prefecture office and city hall. Young women in kimono, as Miss Sansa Odori, lead the procession. Meanwhile, instructors at the Kokaido next to the prefectural government building also offer lessons for those wanting to learn how to dance.

But this isn’t the only thing that happens in this lively festival. On the 4th day, the event spotlights drum circles, and this is one point where the festival has shone internationally. Performers at the festival met in June 2014 to clinch the Guinness world record for largest concurrent performance of Japanese drums, setting a record with a head count of 3,437. (Take that, Kumamoto!)

Finally, as noted earlier, part of the festival involves a presentation of the music and dance to the kami of Mitsuishi Shrine. But you might miss this shrine if you’re visiting Morioka and expecting a traditional shrine structure.

As is sometimes the case with such places, the stones are the shrine. They stand behind Tōken-ji, a temple in Nasuwakacho district, and the shrine’s affairs are overseen by the larger Sakurayama jinja, a shrine found nearby in the ruins of Morioka Castle’s third bailey.

Conclusion

There are many reasons to visit Tohoku in general and Iwate in particular. The Morioka Sansa Festival is just one particular point of regional charm in the rhythm of the year. Indeed, the New York Times 2023 list of Places to Go even lists Morioka, which it describes as “a walkable gem.”

Indeed, in a time when so many venues urge readers to explore beyond Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, there couldn’t be a better time to visit Morioka. Even I, a denizen of Morioka’s sometime rival city Sendai, must acknowledge our northern neighbor’s charm.

So, if you’re able, visit Morioka this August for the festival! You, too, can dance in the streets in the handprint-rock’s shadow and take your own place in the story.

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