Onidaiko
Onidaiko, or ondeko as it is known in the local dialect, is a traditional performance art in which an oni (an ogre-like being regarded as having divine qualities) dances and pounds on a drum to exorcise evil spirits in a neighborhood or village. Onidaiko is unique to Sado Island, where more than 120 villages have their own traditions.
There are five main styles of the dance: issoku, mamemaki, maehama, hanagasa, and katagami. In the issoku style, the oni dances on one foot. The mamemaki style involves a second figure wearing robes appropriate for a samurai. The maehama style features flute music and two oni instead of one, and the hanagasa style combines the dance of the oni with the hanagasa odori, a dance in which performers wear conical hats adorned with flowers. Katagami, the most common style, incorporates techniques from Noh and shishimai (Japanese lion dancing).
Before each performance, the oni and a group of dancers gather at the local shrine to participate in a purification ceremony. They then head to the village, stopping by each house to drive away evil by drumming, dancing, and chanting. To finish off the performance, each group of oni and dancers returns to the shrine where they exhaust their last bursts of energy in an animated finale. Onidaiko can be experienced during local shrine festivals in spring and autumn, and at the annual Sadokoku Ondeko Dot-Com Festival in May, which also showcases a traditional type of song and dance called Sado Okesa.