Shimane: Subtitled Iwami Kagura Sacred Dance Drawing Praise in Shimane Pref. City; Improving Accessibility for Modern Audiences

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:27 JST, January 4, 2025

HAMADA, Shimane — The prologue and chanting in Iwami kagura traditional sacred dance and music are difficult to understand even for Japanese. An attempt is being made, therefore, to make the famous performing art, native to the Iwami region of western Shimane Prefecture, more enjoyable by displaying subtitles on a monitor near the stage.

The monitor shows the original text, its modern translation and an English translation. The performances have been proving incredibly popular.

The subtitling experiment is being conducted by Prof. Mariko Eguchi of the University of Shimane, who specializes in communication studies. When she carried out the first experiment with the original text and its English translation in fiscal 2023, she received requests to add a modern Japanese translation to the monitor. She therefore prepared subtitles for nine pieces, including “Orochi,” “Tenjin” and “Yorimasa,” showing the original texts, their modern translations and English translations together on one display.

Four showings were conducted from September to November for evening performances of Iwami kagura at a venue in Hamada in the prefecture. In questionnaires for audience members who attended the performances, 64 out of 84 found the subtitles very useful.

“I’d like to help people who haven’t been able to understand the stories [of kagura performances] to enjoy them through subtitles,” Eguchi said.

She is now planning to make a proposal to the city of Hamada to attract tourists from home and abroad with Iwami kagura.