Onie no Sato History Museum 鬼会 鬼会の里 歴史資料館

Official explanation

Exhibits at the Onie no Sato History Museum demonstrate how people used to live in the area. The main focus is the Shujo Onie Festival which takes place at the nearby Tennenji Temple and hall, an event held at the lunar new year when revelers wish for an abundant harvest season. The highlight of the festival, which has taken place for over 1,000 years, is a dance in which monks dressed as red and black oni (ogres) brandish blazing torches in order to calm and ward off evil spirits. While ogres are generally considered to be frightening characters, the oni in Kunisaki are said to bring happiness to people. Props from the festival are on display at the museum and include oni masks, costumes, and various tools. A short film of the festival is shown at the museum.

Another exhibit at the museum focuses on the Tennenji Yaba area where the museum is located. Here, visitors can cross a replica of the Mumyo Bridge (a common type of bridge used for ascetic practices), famed for having no railings or sides to protect those who cross it from falling into the deep ravine below. The exhibit is interactive, with a virtual reality (VR) experience that gives the sensation of walking over the iconic structure, complete with views of the surroundings.

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The museum’s restaurant offers handmade soba (buckwheat) noodles and dishes typically enjoyed at the Shujo Onie Festival such as grilled mochi rice cakes. “Oni-eye soba” is an amusing dish of soba noodles in broth with grilled mochi cakes representing the “eyeballs” of an oni.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.