The big finale to our summer adventure was AWA ODORI, Japan’s largest dance festival. Wikipedia explains that each year, over 1.3 million tourists come to Tokushima to party and dance from August 12th – 15th. Awa Odori’s independent existence as a huge, city-wide dance party is popularly believed to have begun in 1586 when Lord Hachisuka Iemasa, the daimyo of Awa Province hosted a drunken celebration of the opening of Tokushima Castle. The locals, having consumed a great amount of sake, began to drunkenly weave and stumble back and forth. Others picked up commonly available musical instruments and began to play a simple, rhythmic song, to which the revelers invented lyrics, “The dancers are fools, The watchers are fools, Both are fools alike, So why not dance?”
We danced with a troupe called Arasowaren, which means “the peaceful group”. The troupe consists of all new JETS to Tokushima, and any other foreigners and locals who are interested in international exchange and culture. We attended a nice welcome reception dinner at the Awa Kanko Hotel in downtown before the festival.
Thing to Know:
*Awa Odori Dance Festival in Tokushima, Japan is the largest dance festival in Japan
*The festival is begins August 12 to 15 and is part of the Obon festival
*Over 1.3 million tourists attend the Awa Odori Festival every year
Related Blog Posts:
Shop Photography Prints:
Click here to shop our travel inspired fine art photography prints, including our Japan prints, at the CVGO shop
Cooling off with shaved ice!
We met some of our students on the train!
