![]() Traditional musicians Seeing the Awa Odori FestivalĮvery evening during the festival, the city center shuts down and becomes one large performance space. The music is accompanied by occasional singing and call and response chanting to keep the dancers’ energy up. The dance troupes are led by musicians playing traditional Japanese instruments such as the shamisen, taiko drums, and shinobue, a kind of flute. Some of the larger troupes also include a kite dance, with one acrobatic performer as the “kite.” The men’s dance Young women and teen boys dance the men’s dance The men dance with bent knees in a low crouch, and children and adolescents of all ages and genders can perform the men’s dance. Typical costumes for men include happi coats, while women wear kimonos and folded tatami hats and dance daintily on the edge of their geta sandals. While all of the many dance troupes perform the same dance at this summer festival, each has its own distinct flair while costumes, musical arrangements, and skill level vary from group to group. The resulting dance, called “The Fool’s Dance”, has been done at the Awa Odori festival every August since. Bon Odori dances have been held as part of the Obon festival for centuries, and, according to one legend, Awa Odori was born out of a particularly raucous drunken party celebrating the opening of Tokushima Castle in 1586. The Fool’s DanceĪwa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan and has a long and storied history. Held annually, Awa Odori is an exuberant celebration of a four-hundred-year-old local dance. For one of the largest and oldest in the country, head to Tokushima on the east side of Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s major islands. Summer is peak festival season in Japan, particularly during the Obon period in August. ![]()
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