Bitchu Kagura is a performance of Shinto music and dancing that has been passed down through generations within Bitchu area (Western part of Okayama). It is said that it was born in the present Nariwacho in Takahashi. Its origin was Kojin Kagura, a dance performed to calm down the soul of Kojin (the deity of cooking fires).
It consists of ritual dances based on the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki (two chronicles of Shinto myths). It was created at the end of the Edo Era by Nishibayashi Kokkyo, a scholar of Japanese classics born in Takahashi. He drew his inspiration from myths such as “The Opening of the Celestial Rock Cave”, “Transfer of the Land” and “Fight Against the Dragon”. Unlike those performed before, these new kagura plays were dynamic dramas with mythic stories and they captivated people's hearts. These new types of kagura became very popular and took hold among local residents in Bitchu.
In addition to the performance of dramas, ""sword dancing"", ""cloth dancing"" and ""rope dancing"" are performed as divine services on a stage provided with a shinden shrine. Divine messages are also received.

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