Tottori Shan-Shan Festival

Overview

The Tottori Shan Shan Festival is the largest summer festival in Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture, held every year in mid-August. It is famous for the Shan Shan Umbrella Dance, in which thousands of dancers holding colorful umbrellas fitted with bells parade through the main streets of the city center in unison, forming what is counted among the largest umbrella dances in Japan. Drawing more than 200,000 spectators each year, it is widely known as a defining summer spectacle of the San'in region.

At the heart of the festival is the grand simultaneous umbrella dance, in which some 100 groups known as ren, totaling more than 4,000 dancers, make their way through the city. Colorful decorated umbrellas fill the main avenues, and the cool ringing of countless bells, blending with festival music, resounds throughout the streets in a truly overwhelming sight. Sustained chiefly by the citizens themselves, it is a participatory festival cherished as a modern summer celebration brimming with community unity and dynamic energy.

History and Origins

The direct beginnings of the Tottori Shan Shan Festival date back to 1961. That year, in step with the annual rites of the local Hijiri Shrine and Omori Shrine, an event called the Tottori Festival was held to stimulate the postwar economy. Its original centerpieces were a portable-shrine procession and a costume parade, and it is said that the mayor of the day took part dressed as one of the Seven Lucky Gods. However, because the festival leaned toward a parade of shrine parishioners with little room for ordinary citizens to join, it lacked excitement. This very shortcoming became the catalyst for its transformation into a festival of mass participation.

What drew attention was the Inaba Umbrella Dance, a folk dance long handed down in eastern Tottori Prefecture. In 1964, to commemorate the completion of the new Tottori City Hall, a newly arranged umbrella dance called Kinanse-bushi was unveiled, adapting this traditional dance so that anyone could perform it easily. Simplifying the choreography so that any citizen could take part was groundbreaking, and it was formally adopted from the following year's festival in 1965. This reform greatly changed the character of the festival, turning it from something to watch into something to dance oneself.

The name of the festival was also chosen by public solicitation at this time, settling on Shan Shan Festival. The name has two origins. One is that the waters of Tottori Onsen, welling up in front of Tottori Station, are said to bubble up shan shan; the other is that the bells attached to the umbrellas ring shan shan in time with the dance. Layering these two sounds rooted in the land, the hot spring and the bells, the name deftly expresses the character of Tottori and the vitality of the festival, and it took hold as a beloved name among the citizens.

Tracing the festival's deeper source leads to the Inaba Umbrella Dance established in the Meiji era, behind which lie rain-praying dances handed down across the Inaba region since before the Edo period. In areas such as the former Kokufu district and the Yokomakura district, traditions remain of farmers in years of drought raising up sedge hats and umbrellas to offer prayers for rain, eventually gaining rain and a bountiful harvest. Such earnest dances of prayer were refined into performing art and passed down into today's gorgeous umbrella dance. Beginning with 1,000 dancers at the first festival in 1965, participation grew year by year, surpassing 4,000 by 1972, and the festival grew into the great celebration it is today.

Highlights

The Simultaneous Umbrella Dance of Thousands The greatest attraction is the simultaneous umbrella dance, in which more than 4,000 dancers in some 100 groups perform along a circuit through the city center. Colorful groups of umbrellas fill main streets such as Wakasa-kaido and Chizu-kaido. The sight of individual groups vying with one another while together forming one great wave carries a power counted among the largest umbrella dances in Japan, overwhelming all who come to watch.

The Design of the Shan Shan Umbrella The umbrellas used in the dance are craft objects unique to Tottori, made of bamboo and Inshu washi paper. Each umbrella is adorned with roughly 30 to 100 bells and colorful paper streamers, each color carrying its own meaning. The outermost red and white are said to represent the sand dunes, blue the Sea of Japan, silver the fish, and gold prosperity, while at the top of the umbrella white paper derived from rain-praying rites is mounted three-dimensionally. Recent umbrellas are made easy to handle, about 1.2 meters long and 0.8 meters in diameter.

The Soundscape Created by the Bells The ringing of the bells, which gave the festival its very name, is an element that lets visitors enjoy the Shan Shan Festival with all their senses. Each time a dancer waves an umbrella, countless bells ring out at once, and their clear tone melds with the festival music to envelop the whole town. Beyond visual splendor, it is precisely this distinctive soundscape reaching the ear that makes this festival unlike any other.

The Suzukko Dance From 2006, the Suzukko Dance, using a hand-held implement called a suzukko born in Tottori, was added. The suzukko is an instrument shaped like a broad rice paddle in vermilion with bells attached, and because it can be held in the palm and handled with ease, it allows great freedom of movement. Devised in response to the difficulty of obtaining paper umbrellas and the spread of original choreography, it enabled a wider range of generations to join the festival.

Four Dance Songs Today the Shan Shan Festival features four songs: the traditional Kinanse-bushi and Tottori Shan Shan Umbrella Dance as basic dances, and Heisei Tottori Ondo and Shan Shan Shangri-la as original dances. In the basic dances all groups dance with the same choreography, while in the original dances each group competes with its own choreography to express its individuality. This blend of tradition and novelty is a device that draws a wide range of ages to the festival.

The Citizens' Evening Fireworks During the festival, a citizens' evening fireworks display is held on the riverbed of the Sendai River. The fireworks coloring the night sky add still greater brilliance to the heat of the umbrella dance carried over from the day, staging the climax of the festival. The scene of the summer night woven by dance and fireworks shines as if to savor Tottori's short summer, engraving itself in the memory of many visitors.

Event Information and Access

• Location: Central Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture
• Main venues: The circuit along Wakasa-kaido, Chizu-kaido, and Katahara-dori (simultaneous umbrella dance); the Sendai River riverbed (fireworks display)
• Dates: Mid-August every year (over several days, including an eve festival, the simultaneous umbrella dance, and the fireworks display)
• Organizer: The Tottori Shan Shan Festival Promotion Association
• Access: Within walking distance of JR Tottori Station (venues cover the central district in front of the station)
• Scale: More than 200,000 spectators; the simultaneous umbrella dance involves some 100 groups and over 4,000 dancers

Nearby Attractions

For anyone visiting Tottori City, the Tottori Sand Dunes, renowned as among the largest sand dunes in Japan, are an essential sight. The majestic undulations of sand spreading along the Sea of Japan give rise to the sand art of wind ripples, ever changing their expression with the wind, a symbol of the land that was even incorporated into the design of the shan shan umbrella. Because the summer dunes grow intensely hot during the day, a stroll in the calmer hours of morning or evening is most pleasant.

Tottori Onsen, which even gave the festival its name, is an unusual hot spring welling up in the city center, close to Tottori Station. Conveniently located for easing the fatigue of travel, it offers a special chance to soak in the waters while lingering in the afterglow of the festival. Restaurants and lodgings gather in the city, allowing visitors to relax at leisure after enjoying the umbrella dance.

A little farther afield, one can visit the Sand Museum adjoining the dunes, or the setting of the myth of the White Hare of Inaba associated with Hakuto Shrine. Port towns where the seafood of San'in can be savored and scenic mountain spots rich in greenery are also scattered about, making it possible to plan an itinerary that fully enjoys the nature and culture of Tottori alongside the Shan Shan Festival.

Related Information

• Month held: August (mid-month)
• Prefecture and region: Tottori Prefecture (Chugoku region, San'in area)
• Origins: Beginning with the Tottori Festival of 1961, it developed as the Shan Shan Festival after adopting the Inaba Umbrella Dance in 1965
• Central events: The simultaneous umbrella dance (some 100 groups, over 4,000 dancers), the Suzukko Dance, and the citizens' evening fireworks
• Record: Recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest umbrella dance in the world at the 50th festival in 2014
• Source art form: The Inaba Umbrella Dance established in the Meiji era (originating in rain-praying dances from before the Edo period)

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