The Akadama Cedar Pond Festival is held every year at this time in the Akadama settlement in the Maehama district. It is a richly traditional festival that is said to be an annual festival that has continued for several hundred years.

Cedar Pond, located in Akadama village, is a mysterious pond with a dragon god legend handed down and is a valuable water resource for the village. Since ancient times, the people of Akatama village have held a festival to thank the dragon god who lives in the pond. The venue is the 'inner sanctuary' of the cedar pond, surrounded by fresh greenery. Many spectators gathered to watch the festival, which is dedicated to a performing arts ritual that is rare on Sado Island.

The entertainment rituals begin at 10am. First up is the 'Onimai' dance. The dance is slightly different from the 'Onidaiko' of other regions, and is more graceful than heroic.

night dance in which a woman dances with a man and a boy (late Heian to early Kamakura period)

And 'Shishi-odori' This is a love dance of three male and three female deer. It has a very unique atmosphere and seems to draw you in. If you watch the video, you can see them competing for the female and making friendly gestures.

Shishio odori (dance of the deer)

Then there was the Hanagasa Odori dance by the children. They danced as hard as they could, but it was a bit long, and some of the children seemed to get bored, and there was laughter from the audience.

hanagasa dance

Please also watch the video!

【YouTube】

Onimai Full Ver / Shishiodori Full Ver / Hanagasa Odori Full Ver

When the ritual is over, it is already lunchtime. The venue is moved and the attractions begin. The local cuisine of the Maehama area, such as 'Obira soup', was also sold here.

Kodo trainees make an appearance

First up were the Kodo trainees, performed by second-year students. They live as a group at a training centre in the Maehama area, where they practise and train daily. Only about half of them make it to the next stage (Kodo associate member). After this, first-year students also went on stage and sang 'Yatai-bayashi'.

The stage events continue with a hula dance, children's 'Yokai Watch Dance' and a song show by Yoshinobu Ara.

Then came the mysterious "Miss Dynamite", a woman who is apparently "indispensable to Red Balls".

Miss Dynamite's graceful hanagasa dance

... Err... The attraction is finally coming to a close.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, there is a 'dragon god legend' in Sugiike. The Akadomari community and the members of the Akadama Liven-up Team performed this legend in a theatre performance, handmade from script to costumes and props.

(Theatre) Legend of the Red Jade Dragon God.

NB: The photograph shows an injured dragon god returning to Cedar Pond on a white horse.

After all stage events, a raffle was held at the venue.

Do you remember Kamoi Shoten's 'Taiyo Wine', which appeared in the NHK TV series that aired until March? The poster with the semi-nude model was impressive, but in fact, that 'Taiyo Wine' was actually modelled on 'Akadama Port Wine', which was launched by Suntory (then Kotobukiya) and was a big hit.

Suntory has donated a bottle of Akadama Port Wine to this festival every year, as it is the same Akadama, and this was given to visitors by lottery. Unfortunately, I didn't win.

Nevertheless, the weather was so good that we completely lost track of time and enjoyed the festival at Cedar Pond until the end.

The Akadama Cedar Pond Festival takes place on the first Sunday of June every year. Next year, why don't you come and enjoy the rich natural environment of Akadama, with its performing arts rituals, local cuisine and fun stage events in a mystical space?

Events

Red Cedar Pond Festival

• Date: 1st Sunday of every June.
• Address： Sado City, Akatama, Sugaike
• Contact: Ryotsu Branch, Sado Tourist Association