Photo/Illutration A mass Bon odori summer dance festival staged in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in August 2019 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Hisaya Yanagita, 54, of Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, was 30 years old when he first came across the traditional "Gujo Odori" dance festival while visiting the Okumino region of Gifu Prefecture during the summer Bon holiday season.

A singer with a rich, resonant voice performed on the "yagura" stage. Around it, hundreds of revelers danced in a ring to the plinking of "samisen," a traditional stringed instrument. 

Mesmerized into joining the ring, Yanagita experienced the sheer euphoria of losing himself in the dance.

That night inspired Yanagita to become a professional Bon odori researcher.

Clad in the de rigueur summer festival attire of "yukata" cotton summer kimono with a "tenugui" hand towel to wipe the sweat from his face and holding a bottle of sake rice wine, he visited places famed for their traditional Bon odori festivals. He sought permission from the organizers to videotape the events and joined in the dancing at times.

He covered 115 sites, including those in Akita and Kagoshima prefectures, and even Hawaii.

According to Yanagita, the dances fall into two main categories. One has local residents staging professional-level performances in perfect coordination. The other involves roadside viewers joining in the action to enliven things.

Some regions also have dances that are choreographed to lyrics, called "kudoki," based on classic sagas such as "Heike Monogatari" (The Tale of the Heike) and "Chushingura" (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers).

Historically, Bon odori was often banned by the authorities, for example, during the Onin War (1467-1477). The stated reasons were to prevent mass rioting or to preserve law and order and social morality.

In the early years of the Meiji Era (1868-1912), Bon odori was condemned as "barbaric" and a "bad custom."

But having survived such crises, Bon odori is again experiencing hard times again.

With the exception of a small handful, communities throughout Japan are struggling with the aging and dwindling of their populations.

And even where the locals managed to maintain the Bon odori tradition by relying on younger folk returning home during the Bon holiday season, the novel coronavirus pandemic has changed everything.

"This may be the greatest crisis in the history of Bon odori," said Yanagita.

In every community, the dances were always meant to console the souls of the deceased. And now that the Bon season is here, they should be in full swing everywhere.

I pray that the dancing and singing will return next summer.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 14

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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