Kaze no bon

Overview

Owara Kaze no Bon is a traditional event representative of the Etchu region, held every year from September 1 to 3 in Yatsuo, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture. Beneath the soft glow of paper lanterns lit throughout the town, dancers in matching happi coats and yukata, wearing braided straw hats, move through the streets in a flowing procession to the accompaniment of the jikata, the players of shamisen, kokyu, and song. The plaintive tone of the kokyu and the graceful movements of the dancers, who pull their braided hats low as if to hide their faces, create an atmosphere of unparalleled fantasy, and it has become a renowned festival drawing more than two hundred thousand spectators from across the country.

The greatest characteristic of this event lies in a dance imbued with stillness and melancholy rather than gaiety. A restrained beauty, remote from clamor, envelops the sloping town at night and draws visitors into a deep sense of feeling. With a history of some three hundred years, its depth lies in the way it has been handed down as one with the atmosphere of the sloping town of Yatsuo, rooted in the simple prayer to calm the disasters of wind and to pray for a good harvest.

History and Origins

Yatsuo, where Owara Kaze no Bon is held, was born as a temple town before Monmyoji, a temple of the Honganji branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, and is a land with a history of developing through the town planning of the Edo period. It is said that the song and dance of Owara were nurtured within the life and faith of this temple town and have been handed down for some three hundred years. The townscape itself, with its many slopes, serves as an important stage that shapes the atmosphere of this event.

The name Kaze no Bon, meaning the Bon of the Wind, carries an earnest prayer rooted in this land. September 1, when Owara Kaze no Bon begins, is the two hundred and tenth day counting from the start of spring, and has since ancient times been regarded as a day of wind disaster coinciding with the typhoon season. That it was carried out as an event praying that no wind disaster would occur during this period, together with a prayer for a good harvest, is said to be the origin of the name Kaze no Bon. The wishes of people who lived facing the threats of nature support the very foundation of the festival.

The style in which both male and female dancers pull their braided hats low as they dance is another feature that characterizes this festival. This is said to derive from dancers who, out of shyness and embarrassment, hid their faces with hand towels as they danced while avoiding others' eyes. By not revealing their faces, the beauty of their movements and the overall sense of unity are all the more striking, giving rise to a fantastical atmosphere. A style born of a simple origin has, as a result, created the aesthetic unique to this festival.

Carrying on Owara are the eleven branches of the Owara Preservation Society, made up of the various towns of Yatsuo. Each branch has inherited its own song, dance, and costume, and encountering the beauty particular to each town is a great appeal of this event. For example, at the branch located on the highest ground, girls dance wearing charming saotome costumes, so the individuality of each town is vividly expressed. The structure in which several towns weave a single festival while preserving their respective traditions sustains the richness of Owara.

Highlights

The Machinagashi Street Procession The greatest highlight of Owara Kaze no Bon is the machinagashi, in which dancers form a line and flow through the town. To the Etchu Owara-bushi played by the jikata of shamisen, kokyu, and song, dancers in matching costumes advance slowly through the sloping town. Unlike performances on a fixed stage, this flowing scene, which uses the townscape itself as its stage, is the true delight found only in this festival.

The Tone of the Kokyu What defines the atmosphere of Owara is the plaintive tone of the kokyu. The kokyu is a bowed string instrument, and its thin, sorrowful resonance blends with the shamisen and the song, spreading a distinctive melancholy through the night town. It is precisely because of this sound of the kokyu that Owara creates a fantastical world set apart from other Bon dances, capturing the hearts of many spectators.

The Sloping Town Lit by Paper Lanterns Throughout the three days of the festival, paper lanterns are lit across the town, and the sloping townscape of Yatsuo is wrapped in a mysterious light. In contrast to the gaiety of daytime, the Owara danced in the faint light from dusk into night is exceptional, and the scene in which light, dance, and tone become one draws visitors into an extraordinary mood.

Graceful Movements with Faces Hidden by Braided Hats The movement in which male and female dancers pull their braided hats low and dance as if to hide their faces is the symbol of Owara. Because their expressions cannot be seen, the gaze gathers on each motion of the fingertips and the bearing of the body, and a restrained, graceful beauty stands out. The quiet tension created by these unified movements shapes the dignity of Owara.

The Individuality of Each of the Eleven Branches The eleven branches of the Owara Preservation Society each inherit their own song, dance, and costume. Because each town shows a different face, such as a branch where girls dance in saotome costumes, one can encounter a variety of Owara by touring several towns. Savoring the differences in the traditions of each town is also a key to enjoying this festival deeply.

Event Information and Access

• Location: Yatsuo, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture
• Venue: The sloping town of Yatsuo (the townscapes of each branch)
• Dates: September 1, 2, and 3 every year (the dancing is held from dusk into the night)
• Main contents: The machinagashi street procession, the dances of each branch, and the performance of Etchu Owara-bushi
• Origins: The calming of wind and prayer for a good harvest on the day of wind disaster falling on the two hundred and tenth day from the start of spring
• Access: From JR Etchu-Yatsuo Station on the Takayama Main Line to the town of Yatsuo; southwest of central Toyama City by rail or car

Nearby Attractions

Yatsuo is characterized by a sloping townscape spreading over the river terrace along the Ida River, and strongly retains the appearance of an Edo-period temple town and rural town, with lattice-doored townhouses and stone-walled slopes. The townscape that serves as the stage of Owara Kaze no Bon is worth strolling through even outside the festival period, and one can savor the historic rows of houses while going up and down the slopes. The town itself is inseparably bound to the atmosphere of the festival.

Toyama City, where Yatsuo lies, is located on the Toyama Plain overlooking the Tateyama mountain range, and is a region supported by the rich bounty of water and mountains. The city is dotted with sights such as the ruins of Toyama Castle and facilities conveying the history of the medicine trade, and alongside viewing Owara one can touch the history and culture of Etchu. It is easily accessible by Hokuriku Shinkansen to Toyama Station, making it a convenient location for visitors from outside the prefecture.

Toyama Prefecture is also a region with many nationally known tourism resources, such as the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route and the World Heritage gassho-style villages. By visiting Toyama with Owara Kaze no Bon as the occasion and touring its majestic nature and unique cultural sphere as well, one can fully savor the appeal of Etchu.

Related Information

• Month: September (September 1 to 3 every year)
• Location: Yatsuo, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture (Chubu and Hokuriku region)
• Venue: The sloping town of Yatsuo
• Type: A Bon event for calming the wind and praying for a good harvest
• Features: A history of some three hundred years; Etchu Owara-bushi accompanied by the kokyu; a graceful street procession with faces hidden by braided hats; the eleven branches of the Owara Preservation Society

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