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In early Japan (3rd to 5th centuries CE) women held some of the most important positions within ritual systems for venerating the deities. It is even recorded in Chinese dynastic histories that one of the Yamato rulers was a woman named "Himiko" or "Pimiko," who used "black magic" to control her subjects. I discuss this history and the influence of women at greater length in "Enduring Identities: the Guise of Shinto in Contemporary Japan." Most contemporary Shinto rituals have a segment designed to entertain the kami thought to be present within the upper sanctuary (honden). This entertainment can take many forms, but the most common is the dance of the female attendants (miko). For more information about this specific activity, please see "A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine" by yours truly (University of Washington Press, 1996). Nagasaki's Suwa Shrine is exceptional for the musical training required of its priests, the quality of their ritual performances, and the elegance of the dancing miko. Usually three musicians (one playing the reed pipe "sho", another on "yokobue" side flute, and the third on the split-reed "shichiriki") accompany two dancers who occupy center stage about halfway through a ritual (always after the petionary prayer or "norito".) A fourth priest keeps rhythm on one of the shrine's drums. |
All photos and text © Copyright John K. Nelson, 1999