【Designated by the City：Intangible Folk】Stick Dance of Kawamitsu

The dance to drive out evil spirits handed down in Kawamitsu is called “bohhu” in the local dialect.

The origin of the dance is said to be around 1686, when a severe epidemic broke out in Kawamitsu Village and the people died one after another. Every household was in deep grief for days. Village officials were concerned about the situation and asked their god what to do. Then, they heard an oracle that they should offer prayers at all the Utaki or sacred sites in the village. All the villagers gathered together and went around to all the Utaki with everybody holding a stick in hand, ringing the bell, and chanting their wishes.
Suddenly an old woman in the back of the crowd screamed, “Damn, this evil spirit!” The rest of the villagers, however, were not able to see anything. They asked the woman what had happened. She said, “An evil spirit is sticking out his tongue and sneering. The epidemic is all his fault!” Following her directions, the villagers surrounded the demon and drove it away by hitting it hard with the sticks that they held. After this, the epidemic subdued and people lived in peace. The residents thanked the god of the Utaki, and dedicated the stick dance, wishing for the prosperity of the village and good health of the community.
Although the stick dance apparently had variations by the number of men and sticks: two, three, five, and ten, nobody knows all the variations today. Two men and sticks, and five men and sticks dances have been handed down to the present time.
When we think of the origin of the stick dance of Kawamitsu, it is intriguing to know that the year 1686 coincides with the year when the new Kawamitsu Village was established in the former Kawamitsubara, gathering former villagers who had lived in Urashima, Kawamitsubara, and Minuzuma, etc. and scattered to elsewhere after surviving the attacks by the Yunababaru forces that rampaged all over the Miyako Islands at that time.