Nishimonai Bon Odori

Tracing back more than 700 years, this one-of-a-kind folk dance is held by firelight for three nights every August in Nishimonai, a neighborhood in Ugo-machi, a rural town in southern Akita.

Shooting motion in low light is unpredictable - sometimes you stumble upon the otherworldly spirit of the Nishimonai Bon Odori

Nishimonai Bon Odori links:

Ugo-machi town website     English description of the Nishimonai Bon Odori with photos

Nishimonai Bon Odori on YouTube     Videos posted by the Nishimonai Bon Odori Hozonkai (Preservation Society)

"Matsuri Madness" Japanese festival blog     Entry on Nishimonai Bon Odori

Hayashikata (accompanists) play from a platform overlooking the dancers. The pounding of the drums draws the dancers and the ribald lyrics of the singers draw the laughs, but the flutes set the time for all the rest.

Every year the event draws professional camera crews

Men dance with looser, more sweeping moves and gestures

Most dancers wear Aizome, an indigo dyed cotton yukata, and hide their faces with either Hikosa Zukin (a black hood) or Amigasa (folded straw hat).  The most skilled women are allowed to wear Hanui, a patchwork silk kimono

Just as in feudal times, the dancers loop around a line of Kagaribi (watch fires) that evoke the spirit of the Obon season

Guests are allowed onto the Yagura, but it takes years to earn the chance to play

It takes heavy rain to drive the show indoors

Passing the tradition down through the generations