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Description
Actors gather outside the main hall of the Ooku residential area to give a special performance for the new year on the first "horse day" of the 2nd month (according to the zodiac calendar). One actor carries a hunting bird while another actor is dressed as a woman or onnagata in the role of "Wisteria Maiden" or Fuji musume. The actor carrying the bell portrays Musashi-bo Benkei, a popular historical character of the 12th century wearing a monk-warrior's costume decorated with "wheels of the Buddhist law" or rinbo. In front of him is a red-faced demon that has been quelled by the character Aotake Goro, carrying a giant arrow.
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