Sasayama Kasuga Shrine Noh Stage

Sasayama Kasuga Shrine was established in the early Heian period in the 18th year of Jogan (876) . Fujiwara Mototsune and his son Tokihira, who owned Hioki Manor, welcomed a branch spirit of Kasuga Taisha Shrine in Nara which is the guardian deity of the Fujiwara clan, and enshrined it to a new shrine as their guardian deity on a small mountain called Sasayama, south of Kurooka village. Later, in the 14th year of Keicho(1609), it is said to have been moved to its current location when Sasayama Castle was built.
The Noh stage that stands diagonally opposite the main shrine in the precincts of Sasayama Kasuga Shrine was donated, in 1861, by Tadanaga Aoyama, the 13th lord of the Sasayama Domain, who was known as a Noh lover. At the time, it was said to be the most magnificent Noh stage in western Japan.
Kashichi Inayama and Rihei Nagai were in charge of the architecture, and the pine trees in the background of the Noh stage were painted by Soemon Matsuoka.
It’s fully equipped as a Noh stage, based on orthodoxy according to the taste of the lord of the domain.
The pillars and frames are made of pine wood, the floor is covered with cypress, and seven large Tamba-yaki jars are embedded in the ground beneath the stage to enhance the acoustic sound effect of stepping on the floorboards and reverberate.
It was regarded as one of the best Noh stages in Japan because of its perfect placement and setting of the angle of jars to make effective echo, thus, designated as a prefectural tangible cultural property on March 29, 1977, and as a national important cultural property on May 30, 2003.

Basic information