On Iki Island, the dai-dai kagura is danced only by the priests of the island’s own shrines – and staged just twice a year.
Iki kagura is a sacred performing art roughly 700 years old. On Iki Island, only the Shinto priests who serve its shrines are permitted to dance it or play its music, which is part of why it is treated as so sacred and is designated a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Its most formal form, the dai-dai kagura, runs about six hours and is performed only twice a year – once in August, once in December.
The Performance
The August event is a public performance held indoors; the December one is a dedication at Sumiyoshi Shrine. More than a dozen dancers and musicians carry it, working through a long sequence of ritual dances. There is no showmanship aimed at visitors – it is a ceremony that the public is welcome to sit in on.
How to Attend
Free, with no reservation. In 2026 the August performance is held on Saturday, August 1, from 13:00, at the Katsumoto-cho Fureai Center “Kazahaya,” on the north of the island.
Date: Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 13:00
- Venue: Katsumoto-cho Fureai Center “Kazahaya,” Iki City
- Admission: Free
Duration: Approx. 6 hours
- Enquiries: Iki Kagura Preservation Society (Sumiyoshi Shrine) +81 920-45-3002
Also: A second dai-dai kagura is dedicated at Sumiyoshi Shrine on December 20 each year
- Official Info: ikikankou.com (Japanese)
Planning Your Visit
Iki sits in the Genkai Sea, about 65 minutes by jetfoil from Hakata in Fukuoka. The island is dense with old shrines – Sumiyoshi Shrine among the most important – and known for Iki beef, sea urchin, and barley shochu. A six-hour kagura is best treated as the centerpiece of an unhurried day rather than a quick stop.
Source: Iki City Tourism Federation | ikikankou.com | Photo: Iki City Tourism Federation