This suggests that by the 17th century, Awa's bon-odori was well established as a major event, lasting over three days-long enough to be a major disruption to the normal functioning of the city. The dancing of bon-odori is prohibited in all temple grounds. No quarrels, arguments or other misbehaviour are allowed.ģ. They may dance on their own premises but must keep the gates shut. Samurai are forbidden to attend the public celebration. The bon-odori may be danced for only three days.Ģ. Some evidence of the festival's history comes from edicts issued by the Tokushima-han feudal administration, such as this one dating from 1671: ġ. It is unclear whether the song lyrics were written before or after this article appeared.Īwa Odori dancers in tight formation (in Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku) However, according to local historian Miyoshi Shoichiro, this story first appeared in a Mainichi Shimbun newspaper article in 1908 and is unsupported by any concrete evidence. This version of events is supported by the lyrics of the first verse of "Awa Yoshikono Bushi", a local version of a popular folk song which praises Hachisuka Iemasa for giving the people Awa Odori and is quoted in the majority of tourist brochures and websites. The lyrics are given in the 'Song' section of this article. Others picked up commonly available musical instruments and began to play a simple, rhythmic song, to which the revelers invented lyrics. The locals, having consumed a great amount of sake, began to drunkenly weave and stumble back and forth. A dancer wearing an amigasa hat in Koenji, August 2009Īwa Odori's independent existence as a huge, citywide dance party is popularly believed to have begun in 1586 when Lord Hachisuka Iemasa, the daimyō of Awa Province hosted a drunken celebration of the opening of Tokushima Castle.
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