Japan Heritage story
Tamba-Sasayama: a castle town in a folk song
丹波篠山デカンショ節
For about 200 years the people of Tamba-Sasayama have sung their town's sights, foods and feelings into one folk song, Dekansho-bushi. It now has about 300 verses, and you can walk through most of them.
Key facts
- Theme
- Castles, Forests and timber, Festivals and rituals, Food and sake, Mines and minerals
- Era
- Edo
- Region
- Kanto, Kansai, Chugoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 丹波篠山デカンショ節
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- 民謡に乗せて歌い継ぐふるさとの記憶
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 兵庫県（丹波篠山市）
The story
Dekansho-bushi began as a Bon dance song sung through the night in Edo-period Sasayama. In the summer of 1898, students from Sasayama taught it to students of Tokyo's elite First Higher School at a seaside inn, and it spread across Japan. Back home, locals kept writing new verses about their castle, their black soybeans and chestnuts, and their festivals. Today there are about 300.
What to see
- Sasayama Castle: built as a national project for the shogun. From the base of the keep you see the whole town ringed by mountains.Google Maps 篠山城跡 (opens in a new tab)
- The castle town: old streets, merchant houses and samurai houses around the castle.
- Farm villages and kiln villages: fields of the famous Tamba black soybeans and yams, and pottery hamlets.
- Clear rivers: home to Japanese giant salamanders.
Plan more of the area with the Hyogo prefecture guide, and see castles across Japan.
Good to know
- Learn one verse of Dekansho-bushi before you go; locals love it when visitors sing along.
- Tamba black soybeans and chestnuts make good souvenirs to take home.
- Tamba is also one of Japan's six ancient kilns.
Questions travellers ask
What is Dekansho-bushi?
A folk song from Tamba-Sasayama that started as a Bon dance song in the Edo period. Its verses describe the town's places, foods and history.
How do I get to Tamba-Sasayama?
Take a train about one hour north from Osaka to Sasayamaguchi Station, then a bus about 5 km to the town centre.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Ako: the town that made Japan's finest salt
- Awaji: the first island in Japan's creation myth
- Inaba and Tajima: landscapes made by the Sea of Japan wind
- Itami and Nada: the birthplace of Japan's clear sake
- Iwami kagura: gods and demons dance the old myths
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- Sakura, Narita, Sawara and Choshi: the Edo closest to the airport
- The Kanmon Strait: retro ports on both shores
- The Silver Carriage Road: 73 km to Hyogo's mines
- The Six Ancient Kilns: pottery born and raised in Japan
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.