List of Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties

This is a list of 333 Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties of Japan.

Criteria

 * 1) It must exemplify something original in the Japanese people's everyday life in terms of origin and content, and be typical.
 * 2) It must exemplify the process of evolution of some technique.
 * 3) It must exemplify some local characteristic.

Manufacture, livelihood
9 designations. All were designated under Criteria 1.

Life rituals
6 designations. All were designated under Criteria 1.

Amusements, contests
11 designations, all under criterion 1.

Social life (knowledge of folk customs)
2 designations, all under criterion 1

Annual functions or events
34 designations, all under criterion 1

Religious festivals and beliefs
71 designations. All were designated under Criteria 1. This includes all but one of the 33 festivals in the UNESCO Intangible cultural heritage Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan.

lit. 'god entertainment' (神楽) are dances associated with Shinto shrines.

There have been 40 designations, all under Criteria 1, unless otherwise indicated.

lit. 'field music' (田楽) are musical presentations/dances related to rice planting.

There have been 26 designations, all under Criteria 1 unless otherwise indicated.

lit. 'elegant dances' (風流踊) are traditional folk dances often consisting of large processions of participants typically wearing colorful costumes and accompanied by props. Another form represented below is nenbutsu odori (念仏踊) and the syncretic nenbutsu fūryū (念仏風流). In these dances, dancing is accompanied by Buddhist chanting and hymns.

The most common surviving example of these dances is the.

There have been 43 designations, all designated under Criteria 1 unless otherwise indicated.

Storytelling
6 designations. All were designated under Criteria 1 except for the Hakata Matsubayashi which was designated under 2 and 3.

Ennen and Okonai
Ennen (延年) (lit. "extend the years") are Buddhist temple entertainments performed at the end of Buddhist services and believed to extend the listeners' lifespans. Okonai (おこない) (lit. "deeds") are Buddhist New Year celebrations in which the evils of the past year are driven away.

There have been 7 designations, all under Criteria 1.

Entertainment from abroad and performance arts
41 designations. All were designated under criteria 1 unless otherwise indicated.

Other
18 designations. All were designated under Criteria 1 except for the Daiko of the Kokura Gion Festival and the Inaba and Tajima Kirin Lion dance which were designated under criteria 2 and 3.

Manufacturing and production
16 designations.

Necessities of life
3 designations, all under criteria 3.