“Manzairaku” is one of the most prestigious celebratory pieces in gagaku (Japanese court music and dance).

 “Manzairaku” is one of the most prestigious celebratory pieces in gagaku (Japanese court music and dance). It is performed as bugaku (dance with music) to praise peace in the realm and long life, and is considered an auspicious rite. Alongside “Taiheiraku,” it is presented at the most formal state ceremonies such as the enthronement of the emperor and imperial banquets. It belongs to the “left dance” tradition, meaning it traces its lineage to music and dance forms transmitted from the continent (Sui/Tang China). Rather than being a forceful military-style dance, it is a refined civil dance (hiramai), characterized by calm, dignified movement. Typically four dancers (sometimes six) enter, arrange their formation, and slowly circle the stage while spreading their sleeves in a gesture that evokes a phoenix descending as a good omen. The phoenix is said to appear in the age of a virtuous ruler and cry “ten thousand years,” blessing the ruler’s reign; this encodes a political message that just rule, peace, and longevity are divinely affirmed. Musically, Manzairaku is in hyōjō (a particular gagaku mode), and is structured in three parts: first “Hyōjō Chōshi,” during which the dancers make their formal entrance; then the main section, the “tōkyoku”; and finally a return to “Hyōjō Chōshi” for the solemn withdrawal. The central tōkyoku can also be played independently as a kangen (instrumental ensemble) piece, allowing the auspicious imagery to be conveyed purely through sound. The dancers wear layered crimson court robes, a phoenix-shaped headpiece called torikabuto, and expose the right shoulder in the distinctive kata-kata-nugi style so that the rich inner brocade is visible. This costume design visually embodies the wings of the auspicious bird and the act of offering congratulations, preserving Heian-period court aesthetics. Multiple origin stories are told: that it was composed under Emperor Yang of Sui, or under Empress Wu of Tang, or that it reproduced the voice and gestures of a phoenix that descended to praise a wise sovereign and cried “Long live the king.” The ensemble uses the standard gagaku instruments—ryūteki (transverse flute), hichiriki (double-reed pipe), shō (mouth organ), biwa lute, zither, and percussion—whose measured melodic flow and stately pulse create an atmosphere of stillness and solemn blessing. Even today it is performed by the Imperial Household Agency’s Music Department and at shrine dedication bugaku, proving that a court art with over a millennium of history continues to function in the present as music and dance for the highest ceremonies of state.