Every year in late summer, o-bon お盆 festivals are held in Japan. During this time, Japanese citizen enjoy more holidays and usually use them to go back to their families, who usually live far from where they work (80% or so of Japan's population lives in and around Tokyo). O-bon festivals are usually held to honor the dead spirits, the ancestors. When this special time of a year arrives, there are many so-called bon-odori 盆踊り, O-bon dances, held in almost every local community. Similar to the summer matsuri 祭, local shops and people who live around the area participate in these dances. They vary in the way they are conducted, and in what music is played, according to local customs.
The bon-odori drummer.
In late August, there was a bon-odori 盆踊り in Akebonobashi 曙橋, near the place where I live. I went to see the spectacle out of curiosity. It was smaller than I thought. There was only one wagon and a dozen of people dancing around it. In the wagon, there was one drummer animating the people around him during traditional folk songs were played in the background. The festival had a very local touch, it felt genuine but it was so small. A few pictures below.
And here are the rest of the videos I took from the festival. :)
The bon-odori drummer.
In late August, there was a bon-odori 盆踊り in Akebonobashi 曙橋, near the place where I live. I went to see the spectacle out of curiosity. It was smaller than I thought. There was only one wagon and a dozen of people dancing around it. In the wagon, there was one drummer animating the people around him during traditional folk songs were played in the background. The festival had a very local touch, it felt genuine but it was so small. A few pictures below.
And here are the rest of the videos I took from the festival. :)
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