Every four years on our island, we have a New Year's kagura performance. You don't just sit back and watch kagura; you become a part of it whether you intend to or not. All the other events on the island over the past four years seemed like mere practice sessions compared to kagura.

Kagura is a theatrical performance, including music and dancing, that is used as a vehicle of communication between the gods and the people. What exactly we're communicating to the gods I'm not sure, but the locals seem to be on pretty good terms with them.

Four years of anticipation prematurely climaxed on the morning of the event when, en masse, previously quiet and law-abiding citizens started drinking sake. And after that, anything went. The day started at 8 a.m., when the kagura and his entourage of costumed accomplices arrived by boat. The boat circled around the port several times while the kagura danced on the bow of the boat, his outstretched hands each holding a fan, while tossing his wild long white hair about. He wore a red mask with a long "tengu" nose sticking out. The islanders greeted the kagura and troupe as they got off the boat, and the first sake toasts were made to the Shinto gods.