Kagura Shop Kuwanoki [Kanagi-cho, Hamada]

One of the largest stores specializing in Iwami Kagura goods, with a wide variety of gorgeous costumes and masks

Kagura Shop Kuwanoki is a a store specializing in Iwami Kagura goods located in the premises of “Refre Park Kinta no Sato,” an accommodation facility with a hot spring in Kanagi. There are no other stores in the Iwami area that offer such a wide selection of Kagura goods. Kagura companies and Kagura lovers often come here to shop.

A number of heavy and sparkling costumes are exhibited, most of which are actually available for purchase. The costumes are truly works of art. They are carefully embroidered with various creatures such as dragons, tigers and cranes using gold and silver threads. It is not hard to imagine the tremendous amount of time that must have been spent to create them.

Miwa Ishihara says that she has seen Iwami Kagura many times.

While watching the staff who were working quietly on costume production in the workshop, Miwa asked, “How long does it take to make a costume?”

Junki Goto, who works in the shop, responded, “Depending on what it is, it may take up to six months. We have several people working together on a single item, so it's not like I'm working alone on it all the time, but it's all done by hand, so it takes time.”

Many costumes are produced here throughout the year, but there are no costumes of the same design.

Junki added, “We discuss with Kagura companies how to create a costume together, including what kinds of designs to use and how to make the costumes easy to dance in.”

To cope with the intense movements of Iwami Kagura, ease of movement and lightness are important factors in costume design, and the actual weight is around 20 kilograms.

“It's amazing that performers wear this and dance! It must take a lot of physical strength.”

Miwa could not hide her surprise at the unimaginably heavy weight, but once she put on a costume for a princess, she was posing as a princess that appeared in Kagura.

She looks like a princess.