Category: Traditional

Awa Odori

The pictures from the previous post were taken at “Awa Odori” 阿波踊り festival in Koenji (Tokyo) two weeks ago. It is a “matsuri” original from Tokushima (Shikoku), but it is also celebrated in Tokyo since the fifties.

I went with Roy who is very experienced, he is being attending Awa Odori during more than 15 years! He explained me all the different dancing styles (There is a dance called “the stupid dance”), why Awa Odori is different from other “matsuris”, and I also learned that 江戸っ子連 (Edokko-ren) is the best dancing group.

About the origin of Awa Odori, it seems that 500 years ago, a daimyo (feudal lord) from the Awa province organized a big party to celebrate a new castle’s inauguration. After drinking lots of sake, people started playing music, danced and ended up “making up” new dancing styles and songs that ended up becoming a tradition till our days.

Roy also helped me to get the BEST shooting point! I took more than 400 pics, here are some of the best ones. Look at the geta the girls are wearing, and how do they dance only using the first half of the shoe.

awaodori 2007 matsuri

Traditional

Microsoft – マイクロソフト連

Yes!, previous picture is about Microsoft, the word “マイクロソフト – Maikurosofuto” is written on the lanterns. Roy explained me about it, they are Microsoft employees who like to have fun and follow Japanese traditions. The photo was taken during the Awaodori festival, celebrated two weeks ago. Is not weird to see company groups joining traditional festivals, what is not so usual is to see foreign companies. Is an example of how a USA multinationals is “japanized” in order to integrate itself into the Japanese society.

awaodori microsoft 2007
Microsoft lanterns.

awaodori microsoft 2007

Otaku Traditional

Uchimizu

“Uchimizu” is a Japanese tradition in which you have to sprinkle water on the floor. The main purpose of this tradition is to refresh the ambient during the hot summer.

How to “uchimizu”. From uchimizu.jp.

My grandmother does exactly the same back in Spain, she usually sprinkles water on the streets around our home. In Spain we also have “Uchimizu” !, the difference is that Japanese made a tradition from it, they named it, and they even have festivals where the main purpose is to throw water around you.

Dannychoo went to one of those Uchimizu festivals、it was a special festival because all the participants had to be wearing meido uniform. Normally, you are supposed to wear more traditional clothing, like “yukata” or “jinbei”, but in Akihabara you can except anything:

Uchimizu

Uchimizu
Danny keeping the security distance.

More pictures at Dannychoo’s site and a website with the explanation of how you should do “uchimizu”.