By TAKASHI AZUMA/ Staff Writer
April 17, 2024 at 07:00 JST
The Awa Odori Museum in Tokushima has introduced a new section where visitors can try out Awa Odori dance. (Takashi Azuma)
TOKUSHIMA--The Awa Odori Museum here recently underwent a full-scale makeover in preparation for the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo.
The result is more experience-based exhibits in multiple languages.
It marked the first large-scale renovation since 1999 when the facility opened on the third floor of the Awa Odori Kaikan hall.
With 25 new exhibits, there are now 44 in total.
One new section utilizes digital technology to offer visitors a chance to try their hands at traditional Awa Odori dance in synch with CG images shown on life-size touch panels.
In another, visitors can gain hands-on experience playing a “taiko” drum and dish-shaped “kane” bell in much the same way as in the “Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master” drumming video game.
The touch panels in the two sections display instructions in English and Chinese.
There is also a section equipped with digital displays about the history and culture of Awa Odori, for which more than 1 million spectators gather during the annual summer dance festival.
“We hope that many visitors, including foreigners and children, will come to enjoy Awa Odori,” said Koichi Shima, 73, the hall’s director.
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