"Awa Dance" in Tropical Tokushima

The one & only Bon Dance you can join & try in Japan!

Takako Sakamoto Jan 10, 2014 - 1 min read

Shinmachi Riverside. One of the Awa Dance groups is dancing on the stage near Ryogoku Bridge

Huge crowd around the stage near Ryogoku Bridge

Tourists jump in to join the 'Niwaka-Ren (makeshift team) and start dancing

Paper lanterns with 'Niwaka-Ren' and 'Yoakashi (all-night) names on them

What a crowd! Tokushima city has a population of 200,000, but during the 'Awa Dance' period the population soars to over 1 million.

'Tokushima University Neurosurgery Department-Ren'. Various companies and universities have their own Ren group, and celebrities are invited in and dance together

Marvelous dance performance of veteran dancers

All Japanese know about the 'Awa Dance' in Tokushima, but you will be pleased to know that tourists can join in and dance too! Although there are many well-known summer festivals in Japan that are quite the sight to see, tourists can only watch. However, in Tokushima, you can actually join in and DANCE with local people! There is a group called 'Niwaka-Ren', which means something like 'makeshift team'. Without registration, preparation or costume you can just join them and start dancing! Everybody getting to dance is what Awa Dance is all about. It's held from Aug. 12 to 15 every year and the city will be one hot melting pot during this period.

"There are dancing fools, And there are watching fools, They’re fools just the same, So you might as well dance!"

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Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...