Tag - odori

 
 

ODORI

Koenji-based dance troupe Tengu-ren performs at an Awa odori event in Tokyo's Kagurazaka neighborhood a month before the Koenji Awa Odori.
CULTURE / Longform
Aug 26, 2023
The party returns to Koenji
While the COVID-19 pandemic put a temporary pause to one of Tokyo’s biggest festivals, its dancers never stopped practicing their steps.
Tomohiko Sato (center) wrote a book titled "Yamakei Shinsho Tokyo Bon Odori Tengoku Odoru Meguru Tanoshimu" ("Tokyo Bon Dance Heaven").
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 12, 2023
Tomohiko Sato: 'The only rule is to dance the way the locals do'
Tomohiko Sato may be Japan’s only “Bon-bassador,” and his love for the Bon dance makes him a true representative for this summer tradition.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2022
Japanese folk dances approved as UNESCO intangible heritage
The dances have been passed down through the generations and are performed by communities to commemorate their ancestors, pray for good harvests or rain, or seek protection from disasters.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Dec 4, 2019
IOC agrees to hold Olympic marathon, race walk on final 4 days of Tokyo Games
The International Olympic Committee agreed Wednesday the 2020 Olympic marathon and race walk events, which have been relocated from Tokyo to Sapporo, will take place over the last four days of the July 24 to Aug. 9 games, according to the organizers.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 27, 2019
Sapporo's Odori Park under consideration as Tokyo 2020 marathon course
Amid a plan to move the 2020 Summer Games' marathons from Tokyo to Sapporo, due to concerns over extreme heat, the games' organizing committee is considering starting and ending the events in Sapporo's Odori Park, several sources said Sunday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2019
Gujo-Hachiman: Travel along the rivers of time
Perhaps it is the gurgling brooks that feed the town's roadside culverts, the colorful, vaguely Pyrenean window boxes, or the friendly, natural disposition of the locals — Gujo-Hachiman seems a place where people's spirits are pitched a notch or two higher than elsewhere.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2019
Former nurse, held over elder abuse case in Gifu Prefecture, may be linked to four other cases
A nurse who previously worked at a home for the elderly in central Japan was arrested Sunday for an alleged 2017 assault on a resident in her 90s, with police suspecting he was also involved in four other cases.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 23, 2018
Sapporo: Famous for its snow, but a delight in green
Sapporo balances a vibrant city feel with the quieter reprieves of lush parks, dense forests and meandering trails that speak to Hokkaido's nature-centric reputation. One minute you're fighting crowds at a fish market and the next you're listening to birds chirping in the Japanese maples.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 30, 2017
Magazine aims to attract more non-Japanese to Tokushima's Awa Odori festival
"The dancers are fools. The spectators are fools. Both are fools alike, so why not dance?"
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 25, 2016
Koenji's Awa Odori festival celebrates 60 years
For the past few weeks, visitors and residents in Koenji have been haunted by a song — a plaintive, pentatonic melody that seems to circle endlessly, never quite resolving. You can hear it playing over speakers on the station platform just before the train doors close. It's there again as you walk down the Pal shopping arcade, under banners advertising the area's most famous event.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 10, 2016
Exploring Sapporo Snow Festival's winter wonderland
Soaking in an event as elaborate as the annual Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido's largest city over a single weekend means getting off on steady footing in more ways than one.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jun 18, 2015
A festival for every weekend of your summer
Festivals (matsuri) of all kinds are a staple of Japanese culture and summer is the premier season to experience them. In recent years, the country has seen a bit of a boom in cultural festivals, to the point that it's possible to book every weekend of your summer around them. We're here to help by highlighting the best "fests" happening over the next three months.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 11, 2014
Enjoy autumnal food and fun in Sapporo
For those who have stopped clinging to summer, Hokkaido's Odori Park in Sapporo — which stretches from east to west, covering 11 districts of the city's center — is ready for its annual Autumn Fest.
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Aug 21, 2014
Go dancing in the streets of Roppongi
Home to numerous shopping areas, nightclubs and bars, Roppongi is probably not the first place you would think off when you want to experience some traditional Japanese culture. But despite its reputation, the district has a traditional side and its own Obon holiday event.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2014
Traditional spirit-welcoming Bon dances get modern spin
Choreographed dance has long been part of Bon festivals, which welcome ancestors' spirits back to the world of the living each summer, but organizers of some events this year are seeking to revitalize the traditional performance by adapting it for a contemporary setting.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 31, 2013
Treats galore in summertime Sapporo
I barely recognize Sapporo's Odori Park clothed in its summer coat of flowers. The last time I journeyed north to Hokkaido, this dozen-block strip of land running straight as a die through the middle of its capital city was sporting massive artistic creations fashioned for the annual Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival). That February, the lush greenery, the beds of marigolds and the elegant rose garden — which in summer marks the park's western end — were all under meters of snow. So it's nice to see the city without shivering my way through it.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores