dengaku

Japanese dance

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Last updated

June 25, 2026

Quick Summary

Dengaku, meaning "field music," originated as lively rice-planting dances performed by villagers in Japan. These dances were originally intended as prayers for a good harvest, either at New Year's or during the planting season in early summer. In the 14th century, these dances were brought to cities and adapted as court entertainment. Dengaku dances are a form of Japanese performing art that evolved from ancient agricultural rituals.1

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Japanese performing arts
Formative period
…as court entertainment and called dengaku (“field music”).
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…as court entertainment and called dengaku (“field music”).
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theatre
Japan
It developed from the dengaku, a rice planting and harvesting ritual that was transformed into a courtly dance by the 14th century, and from the sarugaku, a popular entertainment involving acrobatics, mime, juggling, and music, which was later performed at religious festivals.
Read More
It developed from the dengaku, a rice planting and harvesting ritual that was transformed into a courtly dance by the 14th century, and from the sarugaku, a popular entertainment involving acrobatics, mime, juggling, and music, which was later performed at religious festivals.
Read More