is one of Tokyo’s largest summer street festivals with up to 12,000 dance team participants and over 1.2 million visitors over the two day event. Held on the last weekend of August in and around the neighbourhood of

Kōenji is a district of Tokyo in the Suginami ward, west of Shinjuku. The district's name originates from the old temples in the area. Kōenji is primarily a residential community with easy access to the Shinjuku and Tokyo stations. It was largely un ...

Suginami is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself as Suginami City in English. As of June 1, 2022, Suginami has an estimated population of 588,354 and a population density of 17,274 pe ...

the

Awa Dance Festival The is held from 12 to 15 August as part of the Obon, Obon festival in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku in Japan. Awa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.3 million tourists every year. Groups of choreographed dancers a ...

is the largest of its kind outside of

Tokushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 682,439 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,146 Square kilometre, km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture b ...

. The dance is performed by dance troupes, referred to as group of up to 100 musicians and dancers advancing in lines along the local streets to the accompaniment of

shamisen The , also known as or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually b ...

, drums, flutes and cymbals. The dance troupes are mixed both in age and gender with women showcasing intricate formation dance steps wearing traditional

yukata A is an unlined cotton summer kimono, worn in casual settings such as summer festivals and to nearby bathhouses. The name is translated literally as "bathing cloth" and originally were worn as bathrobes; their modern use is much broader, and ar ...

geta Geta may refer to: Places *Geta (woreda), a woreda in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region *Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland *Geta, Nepal, a town in Attariya Municipality, Kailali District, Seti Zone, Nepal *Get� ...

and straw amigasa hats. Local community groups and schools take part in the festivities, but to keep performance standards high the Kōenji Awa-Odori also has a competition element leading to dance troupes from across Japan applying to participate.

Gallery

File:Awa-odori Kōenji 粋輦.jpg, Banner displaying name of ren File:Awa-odori Kōenji しらいし連.jpg, Lead (younger) dancers of a local Koenji ren File:Koenj awaodori3.jpg, Female dance team (a component of the ren) File:KoenjiAwaOdori.jpg, Male dance team (a component of the ren) File:Awa-odori Kōenji しらいし連 02.jpg, Musicians at the rear of the ren dance troupe File:Awa dance-koenji-aug2017.webm, Kōenji Awa Odori（2017）

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koenji Awa Odori Dance festivals in Japan Festivals in Tokyo Summer in Japan