Japanese ritual dances with music, the Japanese word meaning 'field entertainments,' in reference to the agricultural folk religion of medieval Japan (ca. 11th-17th centuries). Dengaku was performed in the rice fields either at New Year's or during the planting season in early summer. The dance and music were meant to entertain the kami (Shinto gods) in the hopes of plentiful crops and to relieve the boredom of the workers. In the 14th century some forms of dengaku were taken to the cities and performed as court entertainment; through this exposure dengaku came to influence some of the classical performing arts such as the Nō drama.
