Nabeta Nenbutsu Buddhist Dance Preservation Society

The Nabeta Nenbutsu Buddhist Dance began following a drought in 1773. The Daimyo Uesugi Harunori climbed a hill and offered his own amulet charm to pray for rain. Every year on April 15th The Nabeta Nenbutsu Buddhist Dance is dedicated to the Taifu Shrine in an annual celebration. After the “Ireha” dance, which depicts rain giving life to planted seeds and helping them grow, has been performed in the gardens of the community center, the “Hoko” dance proceeds along the 100m path to the shrine. The “Ireha” dance is repeated once the procession has arrived in the grounds of the shrine. The final dance is dedicated to the Toda House within the grounds, which is depicted as a place of shelter from the rain. The Nabeta local area has kept this tradition going for generations and, in recent years, has actively begun to hand down this dance and knowledge about rice farming to the children at Okigo Elementary School during their integrated study periods.