Kagura ceremonies celebrate the Shinto religion in Japan – a religion that emphasizes the role of the ancestors in the lives of the living. Pre-dating the emergence of Zen Buddhism in Japan, Shintoism remains an important strain within Japanese religious practice, co-existing with other beliefs and practices. Kagura ceremonieshave both solemn and celebratory phases and historically these ceremonies have both generated new masks and deployed masks coming from other traditions in Japan. The ritual practices honoring the dead and the masks worn for that purpose had a profound impact upon Noh Theatre as it evolved in the 14th Century. The Tengu mask may be used in the more celebratory and comic aspects of a Kagura ceremony, and it also appears in the role of Oni spirit and jester in Japanese agricultural festivals. The Shi-shi, or lion figure, appears specifically in festivals celebrating the New Year and is related historically to similar lion and dragon-like masks in China and Korea. Danced in pairs, the Shi-shi symbolize the driving away of any accrued bad fortune of the previous year and the hopes for good luck and prosperity in the year to come.