Lion dance

The shishi-mai or lion dance is performed across Japan during New Year and festival seasons. A dancer wearing a carved wooden lion head trailing a patterned fabric body snaps the jaws in a sequence believed to drive away evil spirits and invite health for the coming year. The print likely depicts a figure interacting with the lion costume — often a child held in front of the lion's mouth for blessing, or the performer himself. Mokuhanga handles such subjects by combining broad areas of patterned brocade for the cloth body with the keyblock's controlled linework for hair, sleeves, and the lion's carved features. The print sits aside Shimura's primary work in [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga), registering an occasional turn toward folk performance and seasonal genre material. This interest in cultural ritual extends a thread running through [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) from Kawase Hasui's festival scenes onward.