If you’re a fool, you may as well dance… Once a year, 12,000 dancers pile out on to the streets of Koenji for the annual Awa Odori, Tokyo’s most energetic festival. Men dance in tabi (split-toed socks), while women wear sandals, their heels not touching the ground. They march through the streets in unison to music performed on the shamisen, flute, drums, and bells singing “Odoru aho ni miru aho; onaji aho nara odoranya son son!” (It’s a fool who dances and a […]

Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, awa odori, blog, drums, festival, flute, ikimasho, japan, japanese blog, koenji, matsuri, music, shamisen, summer, taiko, tokyo, traditional, travel