Kamo Shrine
This rain dance festival is famous for men dancing in women’s Furisode Kimono. Kagawa has low rainfall so rain dances and water reservoirs have been important throughout history, particularly for rice production. More than 1,000 years ago the infamous Kukai felt sorry for the local people facing drought and taught the rain dance to a woman named Aya. She danced, it rained and so began the Ayako Dance Festival. The dance is performed biannually on even numbered years, usually on the last Sunday in August or the first in September. It is performed at 佐文加茂神社 (Sabumi Kamo Shrine) in the 仲南(Chunan) area. In 1976 it was registered as one of Japan’s important cultural assets.