Kids Web Japan

The children practice in their everyday clothes

The troupe meets for practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:00 in the evening. As most of the children are busy with school clubs and other extracurricular activities, it is difficult to get all the members together at once. Practices are led by three members of the Hongo Kagura Troupe, including Kono. Even though kagura is a family affair for many of those involved, parents only assist the children with kagura once a year, when they help out with the repair of costumes and equipment. Instruction is left entirely to the teachers.

The childen concentrate hard on following the instructions from their teachers.

During practice, the hayashikata must sit on the floor Japanese-style with their legs tucked underneath them. For most people, this is an uncomfortable position that would cause their legs to go numb after a few minutes. The troupe's elementary school children, however, seem fine. The lines that performers read are difficult because they use old Japanese. There is hiragana written next to all of the kanji in the script, though, making it easy to read even for young children. Even so, it is still difficult to read from a script while moving around, and the words also have a melody, so children usually learn by imitating the teacher. The maikata, meanwhile, have to make precise movements, so the instructions from the teacher can be rather strict at times, as the imperfections in the students' motions are corrected very attentively.

The hayashikata sit in this position for over an hour.

By the time practice is finished, it is dark outside, and the kids either go home with their friends by bicycle or wait together for family members to pick them up by car. In this way, the children enjoy spending time with each other even outside of practice.