【坪谷神楽】
　坪谷神楽と坪谷臼太鼓踊りが伝承されている日向市東郷町坪谷は、九州山地に源をもつ耳川（みみかわ）の支流である坪谷川（つぼやがわ）流域に沿って、平地が開けている。坪谷は「ふるさとの尾鈴（おすず）の山の悲しさよ　秋もかすみのたなびきてをり」と歌った、酒と旅を愛した歌人（かじん）、若山牧水（わかやまぼくすい）の生誕の地であり、現存する生家（せいか）や若山牧水記念文学館には県内外より多くの観光客が訪れる。
　日向市東郷町の臼太鼓踊りは、神楽と同日に奉納される形になっており、坪谷では１１月の第３土曜日と、日曜日に開催される。１日目は宵越し祭で深夜まで、一夜明け２日目は、朝から坪谷神社で臼太鼓踊りとお立ち神楽の奉納の後、神輿（みこし）を出し御神幸（ごしんこう）が行われる。
　坪谷神社は、天正（てんしょう）６年（１５７８）豊後国臼杵（ぶんごこくうすき）の城主・大友宗麟（おおともそうりん）の兵乱に遭い、一切を焼失し、一時は廃社となるが、後に坪谷神社の神職の家系であった日高家の祖先が再興したとされる。
　昔からの坪谷の地神楽（じかぐら）があったと聞くが、百済王族（くだらおうぞく）が一年に一度対面する儀式の形態をとる特殊神事（とくしゅしんじ）「師走祭（しわすまつ）り」の御神幸（ごしんこう）で、高鍋神楽が奉納されていたため、現在の坪谷神楽にはその影響が強く残る。最後に坪谷で高鍋神楽が奉納された時期は不明であるが、御神幸は、坪谷本村（ほんむら）の御旅所（おたびしょ）で一泊し、その夜は村人が集まり、盛大な祭りが行われていたと伝わる。
　昭和４３年（１９６８）に、戦後途絶えていた神楽を再興させ、昭和４８年（１９７３）に坪谷神楽保存会が発足された。令和４年（２０２２）現在、神楽保存会には１２名が在籍しており、若手を中心に演目を増やす取組を行い、子ども神楽の育成を積極的に行っている。

【Tsuboya Kagura】
Tsuboya in Togo, part of the city of Hyuga in Miyazaki Prefecture, where Tsuboya kagura has been passed down through the generations, developed on the flatland in the basin of the Tsuboya River, a branch of the Mimikawa River, with its source deep in the mountains of Kyushu. The region is also the birthplace of Wakayama Bokusui, the famous tanka poet and lover of drinking and traveling, who composed the following poem about Tsuboya:
Furusato no / osuzu no yama no / kanashisa yo / aki mo kasumi no / tanabikite ori
(“Sadness hangs over the beautiful mountain of Osuzu in my hometown like mist, even in Autumn.”)
The house in which he was born still remains in the area, and the Wakayama Bokusui kinen bungaku-kan (Wakayama Bokusui Memorial Library) draws a large number of visitors.
The Usudaiko odori is performed in Togo on the same days as the local kagura, which in Tsuboya is the third Saturday and Sunday in November. On the first day, it is performed until late into the night at the yoigoshi-sai (Lit: “all-day festival”), and on the second day, after the Usudaiko odori and kagura are performed from the early morning at Tsuboya-jinja, the mikoshi (portable shrines) are brought out and goshinkō (important rituals) are performed.
Tsuboya-jinja was destroyed once by fire in 1578, during a battle held by Ōtomo Sōrin, the feudal lord of the castle at Usuki, in the province of Bungo. It was temporarily dissolved, but was subsequently reinstated by the Hidaka family, who were formerly the shrine priests.
It is said that Tsuboya had its own unique regional style of kagura from long ago, but since Takanabe kagura was performed as part of the rituals for the Shiwasu matsuri, a unique shinto festival held in the area once a year when the exiled members of the ruling family of the kingdom of Paekche would meet, modern Tsuboya kagura is strongly influenced by Takanabe kagura. It is not clear when Takanabe kagura was last performed in Tsuboya, but it is said that as part of a goshinkō ritual, there was an event all night in Tsuboya where a temporary space for rituals was set up, at which the villagers gathered, and a great festival was held.
Following a temporary suspension after the war, kagura was resumed here in 1968, and in 1973 the Tsuboya kagura hozonkai (Tsuboya Kagura Preservation Society) was established. As of 2022, the Society has twelve members, and aims to increase opportunities for younger people to perform by actively promoting the development of kodomo kagura (children’s kagura).