【小川神楽】
  小川神楽が保存継承されている小川地区は、宮崎県西米良村の東側に位置し、国道２１９号線から一ツ瀬川の支流である小川川（おがわがわ）沿いの県道を上流に向け進むと現れる山あいの集落である。
  地区の中心地には、江戸中期から明治維新に至るまでの約２００年にわたり米良郷を治めた米良氏の居城であった小川城の址がある。南北朝の争乱で南朝側として戦ってきた肥後菊池氏（ひごきくちし）が米良山中に逃れ、米良（めら）と名を改め、小川の地を拠点としたと伝わる。小川城の址は現在「小川城址公園」として整備され、小川民俗資料館、西米良民話館、桃源郷の宿などが立ち並ぶ。平成３０年度現在、集落の人数は約９０人であるが、交流施設「おがわ作小屋村」には年間２万人を超える観光客が訪れる。
  小川地区の鎮守である米良神社は、御祭神を大山祇命（おおやまづみのみこと）・磐長姫命（いわながひめのみこと）とする。元禄１６年（１７０３）の大洪水により社殿は川上に漂い、留まったのが現在の地であるといわれ、棟札には宝永２年（１７０５）米良領主 則信公（のりのぶこう）により再建された記録が残る。小川神楽はこの米良神社に伝わり、毎年１２月第二土曜から日曜日にかけて神楽殿にて奉納されている。
  祭り前日の夕刻、準備が整うと神を勧請する𨕫（しめ）が立ち、「𨕫建立の舞」が舞われる。祭り当日、米良神社に面様（おもてさま）が到着すると、祝子（ほうり）は米良神社対岸の神山（かみやま）に登り御神体が鎮座する本宮（もとみや）で神事を行い、降臨した主祭神を本殿に迎える。同時に別の祝子が猪や鹿などの霊を祀る「シシバ様」と呼ばれる岩場において、御幣を捧げ猪頭を奉納する「シシバ祭り」の神事が行われる。神楽は祓い清められた御神屋に土地の神々が降臨され、磐長姫命が出座される「御祭神舞」までを「神神楽（かみかぐら）」といい、その後は「民神楽（みんかぐら）」の座となり神人合一の場が展開する。
  小川神楽保存会は、平成２９年の國學院大學での神楽公演参加など伝承活動にも意欲的に取り組んでいる。

【Ogawa Kagura】
The Ogawa region, where Ogawa kagura has been passed down for generations, is a community situated in the eastern part of Nishimera, Miyazaki Prefecture, where the Prefectural highway follows the Ogawa river, a tributary of the Hitotsuse river, upstream, away from National Route 219.
In the center of the community lies the former site of Ogawa Castle, which was the residence of the Mera family, who ruled over the village of Mera for approximately 200 years, from the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration in 1868. It is also said that the head of the Kikuchi family in the region of Higo (Modern Kagoshima), who fought on the Southern side during the Nanbokuchō civil war [during the Period of Northern and Southern Dynasties, 1336-1392], fled into the mountains here, assumed the name of ‘Mera’ and settled in the Ogawa region. The site of the ruins of Ogawa Castle is now maintained as “Ogawa-jō ato Kōen,” and contains facilities such as the Ogawa Folk Museum, the Nishimera Folk Museum and the Tōgenkyō no yado. As of 2018, the population of the community is listed as around 90 people, but the local cultural center “Ogawasakugoya-mura” receives over 20,000 visitors annually.
Mera-jinja, the main village shrine in the Ogawa region, venerates the deities Ōyamazumi no mikoto and Iwanaga-hime no mikoto. It is said that the main shrine building drifted from upstream in the great flood of 1703, and came to rest at the shrine’s present location. According to a Munafuda[a board containing the history of the shrine], the shrine was rebuilt in 1705 by Mera Norinobu, head of the Mera Family. Ogawa kagura was passed down through the generations there at Mera-jinja, and is performed in the Kagura hall every year on the second Saturday and Sunday of December.
The evening before the performance, preparations are made, and after shime [sacred pillars] are put up to pray for and welcome the coming of the deities, the shime konryū no mai, or ‘shime-raising dance’ is performed. On the day of the kagura performance, once the sacred masks have arrived, one of the priests climbs the sacred mountain over the river from Mera-jinja, and performs a ceremony at the motomiya, where the sacred object of worship for the shrine is kept, to beckon the deities to head to the main shrine building. At the same time, another priest performs a separate ceremony called the “Shishiba matsuri,” boar’s heads decorated with sacred paper talismans, at “Shishiba-sama,” the rocky stretch near the shrine, which reveres the spirits of deer and boars.
During the kagura performance, the deities are said to descend to the purified and blessed main shrine building, and the kagura dances in the repertoire up until the gosaijin mai dance, where the deity Iwanaga-hime no mikoto appears, are referred to as kami kagura (‘kagura for the deities’). The rest of the dances are called min-kagura (‘kagura for the people’), and mark the point where the deities and villagers join together.
The Ogawa Kagura Preservation Society actively take part in promotional activities, such as participating in kagura performances at Kokugakuin University in 2017.