Bakabayashi is a musical performance performed on May 24^th each year in the spring festival at Homusubi Shrine (commonly known as Akiba-san)

It is a drum performance that takes place in Kagura Hall at the shrine. When a grand festival is held, it is performed on a float that is carried around the town.

There are performers, who play drums, flutes, and chimes, and actors who perform alongside the instrumentalists. One highlight of this event is the performance of the taiko-uchi, taiko drummers, who wear costumes and masks to represent characters, such as: obeshimi (a fierce god), otafuku (a homely woman), and hyottoko (a clownish man), and they play the drums while making funny actions suitable for each character.

Oral tradition says that bakabayashi began in the Tensho Era when Zenshiro Tada , a merchant under the patronage of Ichijodani Asakura Clan, dedicated a mask to the fire festival, put it on, and taught festival music.

All of the performances of characters are humorous, carefree, and tasteful.

www.youtube.com/watch