Hanesawabushi Preservation Society

Hanesawabushi is a folk song that has been sung in the village of Sakegawa since the very opening of the Hanesawa Hot Spring. With the hope of having the folk song sung more widely throughout the community, the Hanesawabushi Preservation Society was founded in 1995 (Heisei 7), and in 1997 (Heisei 9), Hanesawabushi was recorded onto cassette tape and distributed to all homes in the village. Also, Sakegawa Elementary school students were taught the song’s dance, with them dancing at the school sports festival, and Obon festival held every year on August 14th.
At present, in addition to teaching the Hanesawabushi folk song and dance to elementary school students during their general studies period, they also perform in the village’s performing arts festival on November 3 of each year and take part in national folk singing and folk dance competitions. The preservation society is continually working to spread the village’s folk songs not only to the next generation of villagers but also to the rest of the country.