Ohara Festival

Overview

Ohara Matsuri is the largest festival of southern Kyushu, held every year on November 2 and 3 around Tenmonkan, the downtown district of Kagoshima City. Its greatest highlight is the mass dance, in which dancers in matching costumes fill the main streets and dance to the brisk tones of folk songs representative of Kagoshima, such as Ohara Bushi, Kagoshima Hanya Bushi, and Shibuya Ondo, and their number reaches hundreds of dance groups totaling about 20,000 people. Amid the sound of shamisen and drums, the sight of colorfully costumed groups flowing one after another through the streets is spectacular, and it is widely cherished as a signature scene of autumn in Kagoshima.

Over the two days of the festival the crowds exceed 250,000 people, and it has taken root as a festival of citizen participation in which the residents themselves take the leading role in the dancing. Although it is a relatively new festival that began in 1949 to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of Kagoshima City as a municipality, the folk song Ohara Bushi that lies at its heart has an old history dating back to the Edo period, and the festival has developed as an event that embodies the local culture of Kagoshima.

History and Origins

Ohara Matsuri began in 1949 to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of Kagoshima City as a municipality. It was born of a wish, in the period of postwar reconstruction, for the citizens to dance the folk songs of their homeland together and bring vitality back to the streets, and since then it has been held every autumn and has grown into a large-scale festival representative of southern Kyushu. The history of the festival itself is a little over seventy years, but as an open festival in which anyone among the citizens can take part, it has become an indispensable event of autumn in Kagoshima.

The name Ohara Matsuri derives from Ohara Bushi, the folk song representative of Kagoshima that is danced at the center of the festival. Ohara Bushi, also written with different characters, is known throughout the country as a leading example of Kagoshima folk song. There are various theories about its origin, but the leading one holds that it derives from the Aku Bushi that a rural samurai of Aku in Hyuga Province, present-day Aku in Miyakonojo City, Miyazaki Prefecture, sang in camp to raise morale when accompanying the Shimazu family on the invasion of the Ryukyus at the beginning of the Edo period.

Ohara Bushi, sung and danced to the brisk tones of the shamisen, has been deeply rooted in the daily life of the people of Kagoshima. At the festival, in addition to this Ohara Bushi, several pieces of music are used, such as Kagoshima Hanya Bushi and Shibuya Ondo, which was born from exchange with Shibuya in Tokyo, and dances unfold to a variety of rhythms. Some of the dances incorporate movements that imitate the shape of Sakurajima, the symbol of Kagoshima, and its plumes of smoke, and affection for the homeland is expressed even in the choreography.

In recent years, along with the traditional mass dance, ingenuity suited to the times has been added, such as the establishment of a new dance group of participants in inventive costumes. In addition, the Shibuya-Kagoshima Ohara Festival is also held in Shibuya, Tokyo, showing an expansion beyond the bounds of Kagoshima, and a circle of exchange through the folk songs and dances of the homeland is spreading throughout the country.

Highlights

The Mass Dance That Fills the Streets The greatest highlight of Ohara Matsuri is the mass dance, in which dancers fill the main streets of Tenmonkan. About 20,000 people from hundreds of dance groups take part, and the sight of them all dancing along in flow to Ohara Bushi and Kagoshima Hanya Bushi is truly spectacular, and the whole town is wrapped in the fervor of the dance. It is held twice, in the morning and the afternoon, and waves of dance continue over a long period of time.

A Variety of Music and Rhythms At the festival, not only Ohara Bushi but several pieces of music such as Kagoshima Hanya Bushi and Shibuya Ondo are used. From the leisurely Ohara Bushi to the brisk Hanya Bushi, each piece has a different rhythm and choreography, and the sight of the dance groups competing in their individuality is never tiresome to watch.

Dance Groups Competing in Matching Costumes Each participating dance group appears wearing its own matching costumes or happi coats. Various groups such as companies, schools, and community organizations proceed along the streets in inventive attire, and the gorgeousness woven by the colorful costumes is also a great charm of the festival.

Dance Movements That Reflect Sakurajima Among the dances are some that incorporate movements imitating the shape of Sakurajima, the symbol of Kagoshima, and its plumes of smoke. Such ingenuity in reflecting the landscape of the homeland in the movements of the dance tells that Ohara Matsuri is a festival deeply connected with the natural features of Kagoshima.

The Inventiveness of the Costume Dance Group In the costume dance group newly established in recent years, participants join the dance in costumes of their own choosing. A free and enjoyable atmosphere, a little different from the traditional mass dance, is added, enhancing the appeal of the festival as one in which a wide range of generations can readily take part.

Live Performance of Shamisen and Drums Supporting the mass dance are the tones of the brisk shamisen and the powerful drums. The sound of the live performance resounds through the streets of Tenmonkan and makes the steps of the dancers all the more light. The sense of presence, in which sound and dance become one and envelop the town, is something that can only be savored on site.

Event Information and Access

• Location: Around Tenmonkan (Densha-dori and other streets), Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture
• Dates: November 2 and 3 every year
• Mass dance: Twice, in the morning and the afternoon, with hundreds of dance groups totaling about 20,000 people
• Attendance: About 250,000 people over the two days
• Origin: Commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of Kagoshima City as a municipality in 1949
• Access: Just off the Tenmonkan-dori stop of the Kagoshima City Tram, or about 10 minutes by tram from JR Kagoshima-Chuo Station

Around the Area

Tenmonkan, the stage of the festival, is the largest downtown district of Kagoshima City, a lively area lined with restaurants and arcade shopping streets. Even outside the festival season, one can enjoy local specialties of Kagoshima such as shirokuma shaved ice, black-pork dishes, and satsuma-age fish cakes, and it is conveniently located as a base for sightseeing in Kagoshima.

Across Kinko Bay, seen from Tenmonkan, rises Sakurajima, the symbol of Kagoshima. The majestic figure of the active volcano, still emitting plumes of smoke, can be viewed from various places in the city, and one can also cross by ferry to experience the force of the volcano up close. Viewing it after learning that movements imitating Sakurajima are incorporated into the dances of Ohara Matsuri makes it all the more moving.

In Kagoshima City there remain many historic sites connected with Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshimichi, who were active in the period of the Meiji Restoration, and one can learn the history of Satsuma at places such as the Museum of the Meiji Restoration. From Sengan-en, the Iso Garden, one can enjoy the view of a famous garden with Sakurajima and Kinko Bay as its borrowed scenery, and together with the festival one can make a journey savoring the history and nature of Kagoshima.

Related Information

• Month: November
• Prefecture and region: Kagoshima Prefecture (Kyushu region)
• Origin: Founded in 1949 to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of Kagoshima City as a municipality
• Origin of the name: The Kagoshima folk song Ohara Bushi (the leading theory traces it to the Aku Bushi of Aku in Hyuga)
• Scale: The largest in southern Kyushu; mass dance totaling about 20,000 people; about 250,000 in attendance over two days
• Main pieces of music: Ohara Bushi, Kagoshima Hanya Bushi, and Shibuya Ondo

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