Kitakami Michinoku Traditional Dance Festival (Japanese : 北上・みちのく芸能まつり) is a summer festival held in Kitakami, Iwate, Japan, where Devils Sword (鬼剣舞), Deer (鹿踊), Tiger and other traditional dances of Michinoku, Japan's northeast region, are performed. A recent program of this festival included: Bon dance on the first day, the parade of the traditional dances on the second, and the Fireworks display over the Kitakami River on the third day. [1]
Akita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Its population is approximately 966,000 and its geographic area is 11,637 km2. Akita Prefecture is bordered by Aomori Prefecture to the north, Iwate Prefecture to the east, Miyagi Prefecture to the southeast, and Yamagata Prefecture to the south.
Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. Many festivals have their roots in traditional Chinese festivals, but have undergone extensive changes over time to have little resemblance to their original form, despite sharing the same name and date. There are also various local festivals that are mostly unknown outside a given prefecture.
The Tōhoku region, Northeast region, or Northeast Japan consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (ken): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata.
Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of 328 per square kilometre (850/sq mi). The total area of the city is 886.47 square kilometres (342.27 sq mi).
Hanamaki is a city in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 March 2020, the city had an estimated population of 94,691, and a population density of 100 persons per km², in 37,773 households. The total area of the city is 908.39 square kilometres (350.73 sq mi). Hanamaki is famous as the birthplace of Kenji Miyazawa and for its hot spring resorts.
Kitakami is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 92,311, and a population density of 210 persons per km2 in 37,085 households. The total area of the city is 437.55 square kilometres (168.94 sq mi). The city is famous for the sakura that bloom in Tenshochi Park.
Obon or just Bon is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon Odori.
Takao Yoshida , better known by his ring name Taka Michinoku, is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for the World Wrestling Federation where he had the first ever WWF Light Heavyweight Championship reign recognized by the promotion. Michinoku is the founder and former promoter of Kaientai Dojo, where he also primarily wrestled until 2019. In 2019, Michinoku started another promotion, Professional Wrestling Just Tap Out (JTO). Michinoku has also appeared for New Japan Pro-Wrestling since 2011 where he is a member of Suzuki-gun.
Kensuke Shinzaki is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive, better known by his ring name, Jinsei Shinzaki. He is currently signed to the Michinoku Pro Wrestling promotion where he is the promotion's president. He also performs for Michinoku Pro as a wrestler, serving as the sole heavyweight wrestler on the roster. Shinzaki is also known for his appearances with other Japanese promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). To American fans, Shinzaki is perhaps most known for his stint in the United States based World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 to 1996 under the ring name Hakushi.
Yosakoi (よさこい) is a unique style of dance that originated in Japan and that is performed at festivals and events all over the country. The first Yosakoi festival was held in 1954 in Kōchi, Japan, on the island of Shikoku. Yosakoi-style dancing has spread throughout much of Japan. The style of dance is highly energetic, combining traditional Japanese dance movements with modern music. The choreographed dances are often performed by large teams. Along with a number of professional yosakoi schools and town dance teams, yosakoi is also a popular event during the sports festivals held by Japanese elementary, junior, and senior high schools. Its participants include men and women of almost all ages – sometimes within a single team.
Kitakami Station is a junction railway station in the city of Kitakami, Iwate, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company, with a freight terminal operated by the Japan Freight Railway Company.
Nishiwaga is a town in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 March 2020, the town had an estimated population of 5,468 in 2279 households, and a population density of 9 persons per km². The total area of the town is 590.74 square kilometres (228.09 sq mi). The total area was 825.97 square kilometres (318.91 sq mi).
Kengo Mashimo is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Active Advance Pro Wrestling (2AW). His style is a combination of submission wrestling and hard, martial arts style strikes.
Aterui was the most prominent chief of the Isawa (胆沢) band of Emishi in northern Japan. The Emishi were an indigenous people of North Japan, who were considered hirsute barbarians by the Yamato Japanese.
A deer dance is any of the world's folk dances performed by people dressed as deer.
The Devil's Sword Dance is a sword dance usually performed by a group of eight dancers, especially popular in northeastern Japan. It is so called because the dancers wear face masks which look like demons.
Tatsuhito Senga is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by his ring name Hercules Senga. He currently wrestles as a freelancer in the Japanese independent circuit and as a regular in both Michinoku Pro Wrestling and Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW).
Yuki Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler. He currently wrestles in Kaientai Dojo with his real name, in Michinoku Pro Wrestling as Kenbai and in Pro Wrestling Noah as Haoh.
The Nanbu-Date Border Mounds are a series of earth mounds constructed in the early Edo period to mark the border between the feudal domains of Morioka Domain and Sendai Domain in Mutsu Province of northern Japan. Such boundary markers were common under the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled from 1602 to 1865; however, the number of markers and their excellent state of preservation led the grouping in the modern municipalities of Kitakami and Kanegasaki in Iwate Prefecture to be designated a National Historic Site. on January 31, 2000.
The Taiheiyō Ferry is a privately-owned cruiseferry operator connecting Nagoya, Sendai, and Tomakomai in Japan. It is a subsidiary of the Nagoya-based Meitetsu Group, a group of companies that focuses primarily on rail transport in the Chūkyō metropolitan area.