Hanezu Odori｜はねず踊り

Serving as a celebration of the coming spring season and performed in honor of the famous poet and beauty Ono no Komachi, Zuishin-in temple's Hanezu Odori is held each year on the fourth Sunday of March. Based on an old folk song and dance tradition in the Ono area of Yamashina Ward, the Hanezu Odori tells the story of Ono no Komachi and her ill-fated would-be lover Fukakusa no Shōshō. Young girls from the local school practice for months in order to perform this charming dance, accompanied by koto music and singing that tells the sad story of The Tale of One Hundred Nights.

Four separate performances are scheduled throughout the day, at 11:00, 12:30, 13:30, and 15:00.  The Hanezu Odori is performed first each time, followed by a dance called Imayō. The Zuishin Imayō dance is performed by two young women in their teens dressed in the style of shirabyōshi, female entertainers in the Heian period who dressed in men's religious garb and performed highly cultured dances and songs.

In addition to the performance aspect of the Hanezu Odori event, the Hanezu Odori Preservation Committee pulls out all the stops when it comes to sweets! Mochi rice cakes are pounded throughout the day ready to eat or take home, and the special uirō candy you suck out of bamboo tubes is offered by the winners of the previous year's Zuishin-in Miss Ono no Komachi Beauty Contest.

The Zuishin-in plum garden is also a lovely vision in pink, and wherever you look you'll find the plum blossoms, whether on the trees or tucked into dancers' hats and sashes. Anyone interested in traditional Japanese performances, poetry, or ume ought to take themselves to the next Hanezu Odori!