Horowasan Shimotsuki Kagura Dance is a Shinto ritual handed down at Haushiwake Shrine in Yokote City, Akita Prefecture. It is performed on November 7 and 8 every year to appreciate a good harvest of the year and to pray for bumper crops in the coming year. It is nationally designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

As the relevant documents were lost in fires caused by battles, the origin of this ritual is not known. From the existing oldest record written in 1590, it is presumed that it had been already performed in the Middle Ages. The feature of this kagura dance is the Yudate-kagura (the boiling water ritual), by which dancers purify themselves many times during the performance.

It is performed by the shrine priests of nearby shrines, who gather at the Kagura Hall located in the chief shrine priest’s premise. All the dancers are either shrine priests or the members of priests’ families. This kagura dance is purely a Shinto ritual, which has been solemnly handed down for a long period of time.