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This is a three-day festival to celebrate and hope for a bountiful harvest for the year. On the first and final day, floats depicting historical Japanese Samurais stroll the streets. On the second day, the liveliest day of the festival, the costumes parade kicks off other festivities throughout the day. In this video you will see clips from the second day of the festival.
The first clip of the parade was a costume parade where different floats drove by with music playing dressed in costume.
The second part of the festival they preformed a traditional Obon Japanese Dance. Bon Odori (盆踊り), meaning simply Bon dance is a style of dancing performed during Obon. Originally a Nenbutsu folk dance to welcome the spirits of the dead, the style of celebration varies in many aspects from region to region. Each region has a local dance, as well as different music
The last part of the parade was the Mikoshi. Which is the portable miniature shrine carried by the parishioners of a shrine during festivals that holds the spirit of the deity of that shrine. It is paraded around local areas and signifies the warding off of misfortune and wishing for the happiness of its people. In other words, it’s like preparing a sports car (the best car!) for god, and taking him around for a joyride. The reason for shaking and rocking the mikoshi while carrying it, is not just to make a racket, but rather a gesture for the deity, to have it involved in the fun of the festival as the main focus. Rocking the mikoshi is to invigorate the deity and enliven the land. As they carried the shrines they chanted “Wasshoi” which is the most famous festival chant in Japan. It is mainly used when people carry a festival float.
The origin of the wasshoi chant is said to be a Japanese phrase meaning “Carry Peace” or “Carry a Ring”; “wa” in “wa-sshoi” can mean both “peace” and “ring.” The former expresses people’s wish for peaceful lives while the latter symbolizes the unity required to achieve something collectively as a team. As always thanks for watching and supporting my channel and helping it grow!
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