Akiu no Taue Odori is a Japanese dancing prayer practiced by the residents of the town of Akiu in northern Japan for a good harvest by simulating in dance the actions involved in transplanting rice.
Rice has been one of the main foods for the Japanese since ancient times. Hence, the abundant harvest has been a real wish to them, contrary to today's conditions. Agricultural production in general and rice cropping, in particular, are hugely impacted by the weather. Since weather developments cannot be avoided, they simulated the annual rice cropping process before planting actual rice. In the entirety of the rice cropping process, taue, or transplanting of seedlings, is of importance; rice plants are first planted in a small section, and when they grow a little, they are transplanted to a wider rice field filled with water. Rice plants are transplanted into this wider field for the prevention of pests and the alleviation of temperature changes.
The rice-planting dance, Akiu no Taue Odori has been performed in Akiu, which is now in Sendai, in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, since the seventeenth century during spring and autumn festivals. As a result, the dance has grown and developed into a more spectacular art form that has been passed down through generations. Until the early twentieth century, communities in the villages would perform it on January 15th. Because of their beautiful appearance as well as praying for a plentiful harvest, other neighboring communities would frequently invite them to perform there. There were allegedly more than fifty dancers at that time. Afterward, the season of performances changed from a severe winter to April, or May to autumn, and the number of dancers decreased until it was approximately ten. Six to ten dances are performed by 10 female dancers dressed in colorful kimonos and floral headdresses, assisted by two to four male dancers. Using a fan or bell, the women align themselves in one or two rows and perform movements designed to evoke the rice cycle, particularly taue, the transplantation of seeds into a large wet field of rice.
Due to changing attitudes and beliefs and the replacement of rituals such as the Akiu no Taue Odori as guarantors of plenty with modern techniques, the tradition of these performances has lost its religious significance. To the townspeople today, the dance is a cultural and aesthetic experience, a link to their agricultural heritage and to Japan's life-sustaining rice traditions, and an expression of a group identity that has been transmitted across centuries. However, the performance continues every year until today.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/akiu-no-taue-odori-00273) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiu_no_Taue_Odori) (https://www.ichlinks.com/archive/elements/elementsV.do?nation=JP&page=1&elementsUid=13829896121140900188&mode=grid) |Subject=Belief, dance, Ritual |Country=Japan |Region=Miyagi |SDG=(03) Good Health and Well-being, (11) Sustainable Cities and Communities }}