The summer festival season is in full swing, and as fate would have it, both intakes of new JETs always land just in time for the biggest event in the Tokushima year: Awa Odori! We know that those first few weeks in Japan can be a little frazzling with just how much information is being thrown at you, so to help lighten the load just a bit, we’ve put together a simple guide to Awa Odori!
Awa Odori is amongst the most famous dance festivals in Japan, and is frequently touted as the largest. Its origins stretch back to 1586, with the tradition lasting until the Meiji era before being revitalized in 1926. The festival grew out of Bon Odori, folk dancing performed during Obon. Obon as a festival focuses on the honoring of ancestors and family, with people returning to their hometowns to visit and clean ancestral graves and household altars. Awa Odori differs from other Bon Odori festivals in that it’s frequently associated with drunken celebration. The most popular tale of Awa Odori’s origins says that during the celebration of Tokushima Castle’s opening, the townsfolk began to drunkenly dance and play instruments. This festival runs from August 12-15.
Since Awa Odori lines up with Obon, it’s more than likely that your schools will be closed for the duration of the festival. What that looks like depends completely on your schools and BOEs though, since Obon isn’t an official national holiday. You might have an allowance of “summer vacation” paid leave (夏休) specifically for Obon or you might be expected to pull from your yearly paid leave (年休) you are allowed under our JET contracts. Some schools and BOEs will treat Obon as if it were a national holiday and you won’t have to use any form of PTO, and in some rare instances, your schools might be off but you will be expected to clock in at your BOE offices unless you use PTO. Your supervisors will more than likely share this information pretty quickly when you arrive, but if they don’t, please ask them.
Schools aren’t the only services that you can expect to be closed during Obon. While Japan doesn’t grind to a halt the same way it does during the Golden Week and New Year seasons, plenty of things close. Non-emergency clinics and independent/family run businesses are more than likely to close during this time. For example, in my first year, the car dealer my BOE often works with closed during the Obon holiday, so my documents weren’t fully processed until the following week. If you will be buying a car, keep this in mind before making immediate plans that require driving.
Major chains and essential services will definitely be open, so don’t worry too much about grocery shopping and the like. Restaurants in Tokushima City and the surrounding municipalities are more than likely open to try and court tourist yen as well.
If you are able to drive off the lot with your new car before Obon, you might be tempted to drive up to Tokushima City for the festival. Let us tell you some information you might want to consider. First off, the parking situation: it’s crowded and expensive. What are normally cheap day parking lots throughout the city turn into hourly parking lots with rates comparable to what you’d find somewhere like Umeda. The yen might be weak, but be careful not to burn through the currency you brought with you on parking, especially so early on. And if you’re tempted by any of the festival stalls or izakayas hawking their sours, chuuhai, or beer, remember, Japan has zero legal tolerance for drinking and driving at any BAC level. If you are pulled over for drinking under any amount of influence over 0.00%, you run the risk of your license being confiscated, having to pay a million yen fine, potential arrest, and even deportation. If you’re adamant on driving, theoretically you can park at Tokushima Aeon, but it’s still pretty far from the majority of the festivities and trust and believe, it will be hot and muggy. Aeon also closes at 10 pm, so make sure you don’t get back too late if you choose to park there. Driving might be a necessity if you’re coming from the far northwest (Miyoshi, Higashimiyoshi, Tsurugi, Mima) or the more remote municipalities (Naka, Kamikatsu), in which case we suggest reaching out to other ALTs in your area and coming up with a carpooling plan.
Five JR lines are operating in Tokushima: the Tokushima Line, the Kōtoku Line, the Mugi line, the Naruto Line, and the Dossan Line. The Kōtoku and Mugi Lines both stop at Tokushima Station, which will be closest to the festivities. If you live along the Naruto Line and plan on taking the train, you will have to transfer onto the Kōtoku Line at Ikenotani Station. If you’re coming from the Tokushima Line, you’ll transfer at Sako Station. Something super important to consider if you live along the Tokushima and Mugi lines are the differing last trains. For both lines, about half the trains don’t go past the halfway points of Anabuki and Anan Stations, respectively. If your stop is anywhere between Anabuki Station and Awaikeda Station on the Tokushima Line, your last train leaves Sako Station at 8:55 pm. If your destination is between Anan Station and Mugi Station on the Mugi Line, your last train leaves Tokushima Station at 9:30 pm. Please be mindful of the time so that you don’t end up stranded until the following day. If you’re coming from the far south in Kaifu District or live on the north side of the Yoshino River, you can also consider parking at a train station closer to the city. This way, you don’t have to worry about catching the earlier trains and can avoid paying high parking rates.
You can read more about how to ride the trains here!
So, you’ve arrived in Tokushima City and are ready to watch some Awa Odori dancing. There are a number of official paid and free indoor and outdoor stages throughout central Tokushima City. Here, we’ll just highlight the free stages. Once you exit the station, if you continue walking straight until you reach the Shinmachi Bridge, you’ll have two stages to choose from: to the left, you have the Shinmachi Bridge East Odori Plaza which sits along the Shinmachi River. If you continue straight, you’ll come to the stage at East Shinmachi Shopping Street. Here, the stage is the road itself, which has been fully closed for Awa Odori. The last of the free official stages are at Ryogoku Honmachi, north of the Ryogoku Bridge two streets down from Shinmachi Bridge. However, as you move between all these locations, you’ll notice the dancing isn’t limited to the official stages. Throughout Shinmachi and Ryogokubashi you’ll come across smaller troupes from across the prefecture performing at different times, so don’t feel like you have to camp out at the official stages the entire time. What’s more, some of these groups might even pull you in to have a go. Finally, at the very end of each night, there usually is a huge dancing circle in Motomachi where everyone is encouraged to jump in.
Stay tuned for the Awa Odori recap and information on how to join a ren for next year!
All rights reserved ©Tokushima AJET | Web Design By Gabrielle Vasquez | Art by Katya
