Tono has existing local performing arts such as Shishi Odori and Kagura Gongenmai. In a land where performing arts similar to lion dance already exist, how should a new lion dance be created? I think it is important to create a new lion dance that presents the blind spots of the existing lion dance, and that the new lion dance sees through the land.Originally, in the Jomon period, before we entered an agricultural society, deer should have been a food we should be grateful for, not a pest. In other words, he was actively hunting it with an offensive mindset. However, after the transition to an agricultural society in Tono, deer became the object of extermination as pests. In other words, with a defensive mindset, they started passively hunting it to protect the fields. Today, the memorial monuments for animals such as deer have become a formal symbol of memorial services for deer that were simply killed and buried without eating for the sake of good harvests in the fields.

Shishi Odori, a performing art that incorporates the rapidly changing concept of hunting, has been influenced by sword dances and kagura dances, and it is becoming difficult to trace the origins of dance styles. In other words, not only the hunting but also the performing arts, only the patterns remain, and they have been handed down from generation to generation as formal traditions. Under such circumstances, we decided to borrow the point of view of the deer that we encountered many times during our stay in the lion dance that we created this time. In other words, I thought that the possibility of lion dance inhabitation in Tono meant the possibility of inhabitation of deer. How far can wild deer occupy the land of Tono? How much Jomon incense remains? With that in mind, I created a lion dance that unfolds the habitat of deer.

Member Inamura used pampas grass, which is depicted in Kenji Miyazawa's book "The Beginning of Shishi Odori", as well as being an impressive material in addition to appearing in the depiction of the appearance of the deer, so he used it for the lion dance. created. Kudo used white curtains and hats to depict humans confronting deer, while Funayama dressed himself in tree branches and leaves and played music as a ``xylophone man'' like a mountain god. The dance was a series of events until I stabbed the bones of the deer, and we performed dances in various places to perform the deer's funeral.I was able to create this lion dance and actually perform it experimentally in three areas in Otomo Town. Although the structure of the lion dance this time is similar to that of Gojome, it was not paraded like that time. Just like in the Shibuya edition, they temporarily occupied a place and danced. In addition, we were able to try new things, such as incorporating the movement of a deer into the movement. This time, we did not complete it as a one-time stay, and decided to leave dances in other areas of Tono City as a subject for the next time. In the future, I would like to carefully consider the possibility of shishimai living in Tono.
(November 7-12, 2023)