Shukunegi Matsuri

This is the annual festival of Hakusan Shrine in Shukunegi Village. Chitochinton (a Daikagura Bugaku dance performance using props and designated a Niigata Prefecture Folk Culture Asset), Ojishimai (the big lion dance), and Ondeko (demon drumming) groups parade through the village from door to door, to pray for the well-being of families and success in commerce. In the past, when a freight ship had to pass through a hazardous route, a young sailor dedicated a dance (to pray for safety) to Funadama Myojin (goddess of ships). Chitochinton, reputedly, originated from this dance. This joyful, comical and sexual folk art performance is in existence only in the southern part of Sado. There is a similar one in the Hamochi area, called "Tsuburosashi."