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Dancing on the Streets
August is an important month in the Japanese calendar. It is the month that the ancestral spirits are believed to return for a few days. This is celebrated during the Buddhist observance of O-bon. People all over the country return to the places their families originated from, clean the family graves and have a great time. Besides overcrowded trains and jammed highways, you will find dance festivals all over Japan. The most famous of these is Awa Odori in Tokushima prefecture on the island of Shikoku.
Awa Odori was started more than 400 years ago. The origins are not clear. One story claims that a party to celebrate the completion of Tokushima Castle in 1587 got out of hand and that some drunken people danced their way onto the castle grounds. Another story explains Awa Odori as a dance to welcome the ancestral spirits.
The dance is fun to watch. Dancers, dressed in yukata (cotton Summer kimonos), follow the rhythm of the cheerful music while waving both arms in the air. Women dance very gracefully, while the men's dance is more aggressive and lively.
Women wear special sandals and make sure that their heels don't touch the ground. They basically dance on their toes. Men wear traditional tabi (socks with a split between the large toe and other toes). Both men and women keep their hands and arms above their shoulders while dancing. This is unique in Japan where dancing styles usually emphasize downward motion. Awa odori, you could say, moves towards the heavens.
There is very little singing, although the singing that is done is very exciting. Dancers shout "Ha! Yatosa! Yatosa!" and "Eraiyatcha! Eraiyatcha! Yoi yoi yoi yoi!". Some will also sing: "Odoru ahou ni miru ahou, onaji ahou nara odoranya son son." This phrase can be translated in many ways, my own favorite is: "Dancers are fools; lookers-on are fools! If both are fools, why not be dancing fools!"
Music is played on shamisen (similar to a guitar), drums, wooden flutes and bells. What makes the dances especially exciting is that dancers have organized themselves into many hundreds of groups called ren. Some of these ren are huge and dance extremely gracefully.
Furthermore, everybody is welcome to join and dances take place all over the city until the early morning hours. It has been calculated that every year close to a million and a half people dance on the streets of Tokushima. In a way it resembles carnival and Mardi Gras, and you'll find Awa Odori just as electrifying and delightful as those two events.
SCHEDULE
August 12 - 15 : Tokushima City (city center) -- The biggest one
August 9 - 11 : Naruto City (city center)
August 14 - 16 : Kamojima Town (main street nr Kamojima station)
August 14 - 16 : Ikeda Town (city center)
August 15 - 16 : Sadamitsu Town (Shoutengai shopping street)
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