Nakayama Rural Kabuki

On Shodoshima Island, Nakayama Rural Kabuki has been performed as a religious offering to Kasuga Shrine since the Edo period. The tradition reportedly started when island landlords, returning from pilgrimage at Ise, stopped in Kyoto and Osaka and were so taken with kabuki that they brought it home with them. What makes it distinctive is that everything from acting to narration to makeup to stage carpentry is done by local residents, not professional performers. The stage occupies a traditional thatched-roof structure and is fitted with kabuki-specific mechanisms. Both the practice and the stage have national cultural property designations.