Children perform kabuki at UNESCO-listed festival

Kabuki theater performances by children were featured at the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival, held in western Japan. The festival is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Children’s Kabuki is the highlight of the festival in Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture.

It is performed on stages built on elaborately decorated floats called hikiyama. Tuesday was the main day of the festival. Four of the 13 groups that own hikiyama performed Children’s Kabuki as offerings at the local shrine.