ASAHI

 

TOSHIMA, Kagoshima Prefecture--Amid the screams of frightened children, masked divine beings with fiery red eyes and long pointed noses stormed at crowds during an annual festival on Akusekijima island on Aug. 26.

The three “Boze” deities cover their bodies with palm leaves and wear large masks plastered with red soil and painted black in spots. The “gods” brandish a rod to expel evil spirits and pray for good health.

The Boze festival here marked the finale of a nine-day Bon festival that ended Aug. 26.

 

“The festival has been inherited from our ancestors,” said Kazunori Arikawa, chairman of the local Bon dance festival preservation association. “We would like to hand this festival down to our children.”

Akusekijima is part of the Tokara island chain between Kyushu and the Amami islands.

The Boze festival was recognized by the central government as an important intangible folk cultural property last year.

 

Local officials hope that the festival will be registered on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in autumn.

It is one of the 10 festivals from eight prefectures being submitted collectively for recognition as the “Raihoshin, Kamen Kaso no Kamigami” (Visiting, masked and masqueraded divine beings).