Hatsudai Awaodori Festival 2015

This year’s two day Awaodori festival in Shibuya Ward’s Hatsudai was just as great as usual. Lots of great dancers and a splendid effort from all the organizers and volunteers who helped pull it all off. Here are just a few of the snapshots I took during the first day of the festival. I will have time to properly go through the image some day in the far future when I am retired!

In these photos you will find the Hatsudairen (初台連), the Hachamecharen (波奴連), the Otoriren (鳳連), the Gorakuren (伍楽連) and the Susonoren (すそ野連).

Hatsudai Awaodori Festival Coming Up!

If you are in Tokyo over the Silver Week you might as well live up the last day of the holidays by visiting the great Hatsudai Awaodori Festival in Shibuya’s Hatsudai district, the first day was today but the second is coming up tomorrow (or today, depending on the time zone where you are reading this) the 23rd. Great fun for the entire family and lost of chances to eat, drink, and see the easily most festive of all Japanese traditional dances!

Here are some photos of the home team – the famous Hatsudairen (初台連) performing at last year’s festival. I hope this year’s second day is not as rainy!

Shibuya Matsuri this Weekend

The big Shibuya festival has started, which means that most (all?) shrines in Shibuya will be pooling their resources and manpower to create one huge festival in the center of town. The main even is on the Sunday but there will be plenty of performances, omikoshi, traditional stage plays and music all over the Shibuya area starting… last week. If you are in town and want to see a little bit of a modern traditional festival, I recommend coming down to Shibuya!

Torinochi Market at Miyamasu Mitake Shrine – Shibuya

The second shrine I tried for the Torinoichi on the 22nd of November was the Miyamasu Mitake Shrine in Shibuya. It is a tiny little shrine hidden well off and well above the main street near Miyamasusaka between Shibuya and Omotesando. Compared to the big torinoichi markets in Otorisama in Asakusa or the Hanazono shrine in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district it is much smaller and not nearly as well known and the line to worship at the main shrine building was much shorter. Having met with a bit of success, finally, I decided to move on to the main “party” shrine of the Torinochi markets, in Shinjuku. Use the tags to find other posts explaining the Torinochi traditions properly!