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Published: September 26th 2008
The most famous festival on Shikoku and one of the top festivals in Japan Awa odori* was on the top of my list of things I had to see while living in Japan. From August 12 to 15 people from all over Japan swarm to Tokushima to watch and/or dance at the festival. The nickname for Awa odori, the dance of fools, is derived from the chant the dancers sing.
踊る阿呆に見る阿呆同じ阿呆なら踊らな損、損
Odoru ahou ni miru ahou onaji ahou nara odorana son, son
Crazy Dancers with other crazies watching them since both alike are mad you might as well dance, might as well dance.
Who can argue with that logic? ^_^
According to legend Awa odori was started one night in the late 1580s during a party held to celebrate the new castle built for the lord of the Awa domain. People got so drunk that they started madly waving their arms and kicking their legs. Those who could play picked up instruments and created basic rhythmic tunes for the revelers to dance to. Quite an interesting start to a yearly tradition, don’t you think? ^_^
Nowadays the festival is more organized and less chaotic than it was in
the beginning. Awa odori dancers march in a straight line through the streets singing in unison to music performed on shamisen, drums, and other traditional instruments
The movements for Awa Odori are relatively simple. Basically all you have to do is keep your hands and arms above your shoulder and sort of twist to the beat while walking. Most Japanese dancing styles are based on downward motions, but Awa uses upward ones.
My favorite thing about the festival is the costumes. Especially the crescent moon shaped hats that the women wear with their yukatas. Women also wear stilted sandals and their heels never touch the ground while dancing. When they dance it is almost mesmerizing to see them in their unusual costumes waving their hands above their head and basically walking on their toes. Although the description of the dance and the dancers sounds strange the end result is elegant and graceful.
I arrived in Tokushima at 2pm, four hours before the festival began. I killed time by strolling around the streets in the sweltering heat. Everywhere there were statues, carvings and other little permanent reminders of their yearly dance fiesta. I got to see a dancing demonstration and
watch a portrait artist work, but overall the wait wasn't interesting. Tokushima is a small city and probably a pretty quiet place for most of the year. At about 5:30 I parked myself on one of the few benches in the city. Thirty minutes later I was pleasantly surprised that the bench was next to a stage so I ended up with a VIP seat to the dancing. I stayed parked on the park bench for over an hour and then I wiggled my way through the overstuffed city taking in the festival crowds for a while. In the end I decided grab some strange takoyaki and book it out of there early. Awa odori was fun and the dancing is beautiful, but perhaps after yosakoi it seemed unvaried and overcrowded to me.
*Awa is the old name for Tokushima Prefecture and odori means dance.
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Jo Trouble
Jo McCarthy
Dancing Fools
This was one festival I was going to try and see but didn't, won't make it now. Doesn't sound as though it would beat taiko :-) Have you been to the yosakoi festival in Sapporo?