section_path: Practices/Kagura
section_name: Kagura
paragraph_text: Kagura
  
  Kagura describes the music and dance performed for the kami; the term may have originally derived from kami no kura ("seat of the kami "). Throughout Japanese history, dance has played an important culture role and in Shinto it is regarded as having the capacity to pacify kami. There is a mythological tale of how kagura dance came into existence. According to the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, Ame-no-Uzume performed a dance to entice Amaterasu out of the cave in which she had hidden herself.
  
  There are two broad types of kagura. One is Imperial kagura, also known as mikagura. This style was developed in the imperial court and is still performed on imperial grounds every December. It is also performed at the Imperial harvest festival and at major shrines such as Ise, Kamo, and Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū. It is performed by singers and musicians using shakubyoshi wooden clappers, a hichiriki, a kagura-bue flute, and a six-stringed zither. The other main type is sato-kagura, descended from mikagura and performed at shrines across Japan. Depending on the style, it is performed by miko or by actors wearing masks to portray various mythological figures. These actors are accompanied by a hayashi band using flutes and drums. There are also other, regional types of kagura.