oisin bourke

In Japan, there is a coming of age ceremony for Japanese children called Shichi Go San ("seven five three"). Basically, boys and girls upon reaching those ages attend a Shinto Shrine and receive a blessing from the Kami. They dress up in Kimono and it's all very cute.

I attended this ceremony with my daughter last year.

The head priest calls out the names of all the children involved to the altar where the Kami resides. Then the assistant priests play flute music while one of the shrine Maidens (Miko) performs a ritual dance holding a fan and a bell. She "calls up" the Kami and then distributes the Kami's blessing (?) to the parents and kids.

I was stunned at how similar this dance was to Ueshiba Sensei's ritual purification rituals that can be seen on many films of him as an older man.

The pivoting around the center line of the body and the exquisite balance of the Miko was wonderful to watch ( the bell seems extremely heavy).

My question is:

Can only women perform this dance?

Does one need to be "purified" to perform this in front of the Kami, and is this dance in anyway related to Ueshiba's ritual?

I am looking for answers from people versed in Shinto.

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu