Traditions die hard in the small mountain town of Kanegasaki, whose history includes a series of battles nearly 1,000 years ago that drove an ancestor of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to leave the area for southern Japan.
But as Japan ages and rural towns face depopulation, many unique cultural traditions are being lost. This year Kanegasaki, in Iwate Prefecture, will have to forgo the centuries-old "deer dance," a prayer for a bountiful harvest and an homage to the townspeople's ancestors.
The lead dancer, aged 61, has back pain, and there is no one in the town to replace him.