Ato Kagura Preservation Group

The Ato settlement remains date back to 1300. The Kagura Shinto theatrical dance was originally performed in the Kamakura period when it was added to an event that prayed for the safe return of troops when the military commander of the Abo clan, once part of the Minamoto clan, came to this area from the Musashi Province. At that time, it was just a simple affair containing what is now the introductory dances – Miko dance, sword dance and lion dance. After this, it then took on its current form after part of it was included in the Shonai’s town’s Myogase Kagura Dance. The local elementary school children of Amarume, under the instruction of the Kagura dance troupe, practice for the yearly festival at the Tenman Shrine where the dance is performed on the shrine stage.