Bon Odori
Obon, is one of Japanese festival to honor The Departed spirits of one's Ancestors.
one of the entertaining stall is kingyo-sukui (goldfish scooping). kingyo-sukui is a traditional Japanese game in the which a player scoops goldfish with a special scooper made by paper.
Information: TEL +81-45-221-2155
Obon, is one of Japanese festival to honor The Departed spirits of one's Ancestors.
Obon festival is celebrated on different dates in some places in Japan, but at first Obon is celebrated every 15th of the seventh month on the lunar calendar in every summer.
Obon festival held at the Minato-mirai (Yokohama) is a regular event in every year, but today is festival is held as the charity event, where the profits of the charity activity will be contributed to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
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| the preparation for the festival |
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| one of the stall corner |
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This event begins with uchi-mizu (sprinkling water). Uchi mizu is the ritual to lowering the temperature of summer heat by pouring water into the field, many children and their parents participated in this event.
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The performances
Featured at the festival are Japanese foods and entertainment, followed by female Taiko drumming, the Japanese traditional folk dance is very expressive and cool!!
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Amazing Taiko (Japanese drum) performance by USAGI, they are female Taiko group from Chiba prefecture Japan. In March 2011, the Chiba area is also affected by earthquake and tsunami disaster.
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The main event
When the sun almost went down, the main event of the festival is begin, the bon odori is about to start.
There are many traditional dances in Japan, but bon odori is the one of the most famous dance in every city in Japan. People gather at nearby, make a circle and dance to the traditional Japanese music.
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| the main dancer of bon odori |
The main dancers may invite the public to join in to the dance, there is pros and armatures in this dance, many people as possible can be invited and you can learn about Japanese music and dance by joining them, it's really fun!!
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The stalls
Beside the Taiko performance, there is a variety of stalls from the selling food to the entertaining stalls for childrenone of the entertaining stall is kingyo-sukui (goldfish scooping). kingyo-sukui is a traditional Japanese game in the which a player scoops goldfish with a special scooper made by paper.
kingyo-suki stall
yoyo stall
super ball stall and wa-nage (quoits) stall
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The festival is foods
We can also enjoy the foods like yakisoba (Japanese fried noodles) and takoyaki (octopus ball) at the stalls, They are typical Japanese food for festivals.
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| giant octopus ball, they are bigger than normal takoyaki in size! |
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| normal size of takoyaki |
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| yakisoba with beni shōga (ginger slices) |
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The souvenirs
The souvenirs from this festival is uchiwa (Japanese fan) and glow stick for the attribute dance 
Access
Minato Mirai is can be accessed from Sakuragicho Station on the JR Negishi Line (Keihin-Tohoku Line), which is just one stop from Yokohama Station is about 150 yen.
1-1-1 Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama 220-0012, Japan
Transportation Guide: TEL +81-45-221-2166; Information: TEL +81-45-221-2155
