is one of Tokyo’s largest summer street festivals with up to 12,000 dance team participants and over 1.2 million visitors over the two day event. Held on the last weekend of August in and around the neighbourhood of

Kōenji is a district of Tokyo in the Suginami ward, west of Shinjuku. The district's name originates from the old temples in the area. Kōenji is primarily a residential community with easy access to the Shinjuku and Tokyo stations. It was largely un ...

Suginami is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Suginami City in English. As of June 1, 2022, Suginami has an estimated population of 588,354 and a population density of 17,274 persons per km2. The total area is 34.06 km2 ...

the

Awa Dance Festival The is held from 12 to 15 August as part of the Obon festival in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku in Japan. Awa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.3 million tourists every year. Groups of choreographed dancers and mu ...

is the largest of its kind outside of

Tokushima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the north, E ...

. The dance is performed by dance troupes, referred to as group of up to 100 musicians and dancers advancing in lines along the local streets to the accompaniment of

shamisen The , also known as the or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usual ...

, drums, flutes and cymbals. The dance troupes are mixed both in age and gender with women showcasing intricate formation dance steps wearing traditional

yukata A is an unlined cotton summer kimono, worn in casual settings such as summer festivals and to nearby bathhouses. Originally worn as bathrobes, their modern use is much broader, and are a common sight in Japan during summer. Though are tradition ...

geta Geta may refer to: Places *Geta (woreda), a woreda in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region *Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland * Geta, Nepal, a town in Attariya Municipality, Kailali District, Seti Zone, Nepal *Get ...

and straw amigasa hats. Local community groups and schools take part in the festivities, but to keep performance standards high the Kōenji Awa-Odori also has a competition element leading to dance troupes from across Japan applying to participate.

Gallery

File:Awa-odori Kōenji 粋輦.jpg, Banner displaying name of ren File:Awa-odori Kōenji しらいし連.jpg, Lead (younger) dancers of a local Koenji ren File:Koenj awaodori3.jpg, Female dance team (a component of the ren) File:KoenjiAwaOdori.jpg, Male dance team (a component of the ren) File:Awa-odori Kōenji しらいし連 02.jpg, Musicians at the rear of the ren dance troupe File:Awa dance-koenji-aug2017.webm, Kōenji Awa Odori（2017）

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koenji Awa Odori Dance festivals in Japan Festivals in Tokyo Summer events in Japan