London UK, 2001/9/3 Brunei Gallery Auditorium, SOAS The University of London Dr. John Breen     Two kagura troupes, from Buzen in Kyushu and Chichibu in Saitama, performed before a full house in the auditorium of the Brunei gallery SOAS on September 3rd.     The evening began with a shubatsu purification conducted by the Rev Hatsuyama of the Usobuki Hachiman shrine in Buzen. The Chichibu troupe, attached to the Chichibu shrine in Saitama, then opened the dramatic proceedings with the mesmerising, 'Ame no Iwato biraki', the story of the Sun Goddess's emergence from the heavenly rock cave. Memorable were the dancing of Ame no uzume and the opening of the rock cave by Tajikarao. 'Inasaku', the second piece, was a portrayal of the night time world of the rice deity Inari and his two assistants, the heavenly fox and the earthly fox, as they nurtured the crop and danced in celebration of its abundance.     If the Chichibu kagura was stately and refined, the Buzen kagura that began part two was dramatic. 'Bon kagura', the first of three pieces, was a celebration of the rice crop which involved a dancer spinning across stage bearing trays laden with rice; 'Sanjin' had deities of the mountains, the fields and the seas celebrating the natural abundance of the world with dancing on stage and among the audience. 'Misaki kagura' was a dynamic enactment of the encounter between Ame no uzume and the ferocious Sarutahiko. Sarutahiko caused screams of delight as he posed and strutted down the aisles in the midst of the audience, scooping up children as he went. The last piece of the evening was 'Kunihira no tsuchi' performed by the Chichibu troupe. The performance featured Daikoku - Okuninushi no kami - the smiling deity whose hammer forges both harmony and prosperity. Daikoku's scattering of rice cakes among the audience brought the evening to a dramatic end.     Prior to the performance, Dr Irit Averbuch gave an illustrated talk on the shamanic tradition in kagura entitled 'Gods on stage'.     The SOAS event was hosted by the Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions and sponsored by the International Shinto Foundation, the GB Sasakawa Foundation, the International Foundation for arts and culture and Japan 2001.     The kagura troupes performed at SOAS as the second leg of their European tour, which began in Oslo and concluded in St. Ignatius church, Rome.