Lion Dance Festival in Echizen

Raging lion dances through a small village of Fukui

Por Takako Sakamoto

Community writer

The lion head is turned upside down, which symbolizes 'Shishi Gaeshi (Lion Counter)' dance

Lion bearers waiting to go wild inside a newly-built house

Lion bearers marching down the street at night

Lion Dance performed on a temporary stage set in a garden of a newly-built house

Reversed lion's head probably signifies he was killed

Muscled legs of a lion bearer clad in a traditional loincloth

Violent movements of lion bearers frozen in a picture

Lion and his bearers rushing inside a newly-built house to expel evil spirits

Lion and his bearers coming out of a newly-built house

Paper lantern standing on the street. "奉燈 (hoto)" means offering light to god.

Lion bearers marching on the street. This festival lasts till 1:00 AM.

The Lion Dance Festival of Shishi Gaeshi is one of the traditional autumn festivals held in Echizen City. This festival dates back to the 16th century when local farmers were troubled by wild boars coming down to their village to eat crops. The legend says that they asked a brave samurai to kill wild boars and he used a wooden lion's head to ward them off. Since then, the Lion Dance has been performed in the villages. In recent years a lion (Shishi) and its bearers will visit newly-built houses in a village, dance wildly inside to expel evil spirits. However, if you are a owner of a new house, you wouldn't like these youngsters go wild inside it, would you? So some of the owners set a makeshift stage in their gardens to let them go wild on it instead. Still, they would come inside and go wild. Nothing can ward them off!