Summertime in the City - the Awa Odori

"The dancers are fools, the watchers are fools, both are fools alike, so why not dance?"

 Well, I don't dance in this festival - it takes practice (which I may or may not do while walking down the street), but it sure is lovely to watch, if not a little noisy, what with the drums, flutes, clang-y things, whacking bamboo, and singing. But then, what good festival isn't noisy?

The Awa Odori is from Tokushima, Shikoku. H. and I went to see it last year. We camped around Shikoku for ten days, getting caught in a typhoon while we were at it. We also saw the Yosa Koi festival, but the Awa Odori was the one that stood out. It was fabulous! In Tokushima, the streets are long and wide. It's almost like the city was built to hold the festival.

Like most major festivals, though, a version of the Awa Odori (several, actually) are celebrated in areas outside of Shikoku. Tokyo has at least a handful, the most famous being Koenji. But while Koenji may be the most happening of the Tokyo Awa Odori, it is also the most reminiscent of being trapped in a sardine can. Good luck navigating the streets, or even breathing for that matter. H. and I went to Koenji last year. It was an experience, but crowds are not my forte, nor is getting other people's sweat all over my clothes (it's THAT crowded and Tokyo is blisteringly hot in the summer).

This year we decided to skip it and instead went to Musashi-Koganei and Nakameguro's Awa Odori. Musashi-Koganei's was a little disappointing, but only because the area around the station was under construction, making for some rather unfortunate backgrounds. Sitting on the curb for so long also resulted in some painful pins and needles, but what's a little numbness for something so beautiful? At right is one of the drummers, H.'s favourite part of the festival. One of the most exciting things is when the drummers stop and just pound away, dipping down low as they wail on their drums.

Nakameguro's was against a much nicer backdrop (a shopping street). AND, what made it even better was that we managed to score some stools and fans: like I said before, Japanese summers are hot! Of course, the fact that there was a dragon only sweetened the deal. The other Awa Odori's didn't have that. They had people acting as kites, which was amazing. The narrow streets of Tokyo, however, don't really lend themselves well to that sort of thing, though. Dragon made up for it. 

My friend, J., was also in town, and we lucked out getting to show her something so quintessentially Japanese, even if it means we are fools.