11. Inami Shishimai: Inami-chiku, Nanto

Overview

Inami Shishimai is a type of lion dance performed in Toyama Prefecture. Here, the shishi symbolizes the harshness and bounty of the natural world, and the matsuri focuses on the importance of harmony between people and nature. Adults play the role of the enormous shishi while a child is the shishi-tori, whose job is to pacify the shishi with sacred objects. This event is also an opportunity for local families to wish for happy marriages and children, and the shishi dances in celebration.