"For years I have known the photo of the ladies dressed in white egret
<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egret> costumes, dancing at Japanese temples in
certain festivals, but I have never been able to catch one of the performances
live. It is said the tradition of dressing up as the slender white egrets that
you often see in Japanese rice fields or rivers started in Shimane prefecture
about 500 years ago. These days the ritualized dance called sagimai (??) takes
place in a handful of places around Japan, with slight variations. It is
probably one of the most spectacular ritual dances in Japan today. "
http://tokyobling.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/asakusa-sagimai-egret-dancers/
You can see the dance here:
http://youtu.be/EepvHm4mYSo
Beautiful!
Peace,
Katherine
