I visited Tokushima recently to check out the
Awa Odori Festival. It's one of the two most famous festivals on the island of Shikoku. It takes place every year in August during
Obon. The festival is a typical Japanese summer festival. The streets are absolutely flooded with people, many of them wearing
yukata or
kimono. This is one of the more famous festivals in Japan, so it was particularly crowded. Luckily, while it was hot, it wasn't unbearably hot, so I was able to enjoy things a little more. There were also, of course, tons of food stalls with lots of delicious wares. This festival is notable for the
Awa Odori itself, meaning
Awa dance. There are groups of dancers all over the streets of Tokushima. They wear
Obon costumes and dance in groups along with lutes and drums. The dance itself is pretty interesting. It's like a serpentine kind of movement. Sometimes it seems like something out of a
Drunken Master movie. The dance is basically the same, but each group was somewhat unique. And there were many, many groups. They came from all over Japan. Anyway, here are some pictures and video.
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| Yakisoba! | | |
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| Franks! | | | |
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