Sword Dance of Iwate

In the snowy northern prefecture of Iwate, the art of Oni Ken Bai brings graceful movements and flashing swords, to the sounds of Japanese drums and flutes.

Legend has it that it evolved from a prayer dance of En no Gyōja, who is the founder of Shugendo, a body of ascetic practices that fuses Japan’s indigenous mountain worship, Shintoism, and esoteric Buddhism. At first created to dispel evil spirits, this prayer dance later persisted in Iwate as a tradition that appeases the ancestral spirits of the once powerful clans in the region.

The word “oni” roughly translates to ogre, referring to the fierce-looking masks of the dancers. However, far from being malevolent beings, the masks are meant to depict Buddhist guardian deities known as myo-o or Wisdom Kings. Depending on the troupe, a ceremony can consist of up to 18 segments, each with its own flavour.

Some segments involve a strong element of prayer, while others exude a strong martial aspect, with a frenzy of drawn swords. While dancing, Buddhist chants are intoned and the practitioners move in a set of ritual dance steps, which is a vestige of the onmyōdō tradition of magic and metaphysics. With each trampling movement, negativity in the land is quelled, alongside prayers for peace, happiness and abundance.

To this end, the dancers must perform continuously and in a state of deep concentration, undistracted by stray thoughts and ego. They enter a heightened spiritual state, much like that witnessed in so many devotional dance forms around the world, a state sometimes described as being at one with the gods.

Today, the tradition of Oni Ken Bai endures in the city of Kitakami, and is practiced with pride by the townsfolk. It is performed at official ceremonies and festivals, and children are taught it in elementary and junior high school ensuring that the torch is carried on by the next generation.