Yosakoi Matsuri

Overview

Yosakoi Matsuri is one of the leading summer festivals of Shikoku, held every August in Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture. It is a festival brimming with heat and dynamic energy, in which dancers holding naruko clappers in both hands dance along the streets of the city to the brisk rhythm of the Yosakoi Naruko Odori. Led by a jikatasha float loaded with music and lighting, teams of large numbers of dancers in matching costumes follow behind and dance forward, in an overwhelming sight, and today it has grown into a large-scale festival in which about 190 to 200 teams, totaling some 18,000 dancers, take part.

This festival, which began in postwar Kochi in an effort to cheer up the citizens, gave rise to the distinctive style of dancing forward while sounding the naruko, and it has now become the root of the Yosakoi-style festivals that have spread throughout the country. The generosity of its rule, whereby the arrangement and choreography are free so long as a single phrase of the song is kept, gives rise to a wide variety of performances, and it is a great attraction that the individuality of each team is set in competition, from traditional dances to modern and energetic performances.

History and Origins

Yosakoi Matsuri began in 1954. It started when the Kochi Chamber of Commerce and Industry took the lead in holding it, out of a wish to blow away the winds of the postwar recession and cheer up the citizens. It is said to have been inspired in part by the Awa Odori that flourishes in neighboring Tokushima Prefecture in the same Shikoku, and the enthusiasm to create a new summer festival unique to Kochi was the driving force that gave birth to this festival.

The first festival opened on August 10, and as fireworks and a siren announced the opening, 750 dancers in 21 groups performed the Yosakoi Naruko Odori. At first it was a relatively small-scale event, but with each passing year the number of participating teams and dancers increased, and today it has developed into a major event that gathers many teams from within Japan and abroad. From a mere 750 people at the first festival, it has expanded to a scale at which some 18,000 people dance today.

The Yosakoi Naruko Odori, the core of the festival, was created by the composer Eisaku Takemasa. Takemasa devised the use, as a tool for the dance, of the naruko clappers that had been used to drive away birds in farm work, and he established the distinctive style of dancing forward while holding a naruko in each hand and clapping them. It is this naruko that has become the symbol decisively distinguishing Yosakoi Matsuri from other dances.

Yosakoi Matsuri spread beyond Kochi throughout the country. Beginning with the YOSAKOI Soran Festival that started in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in 1992, festivals bearing the name Yosakoi were born one after another in various places, and it has taken root as a citizen-participation dance festival representative of Japan. The original Yosakoi Matsuri of Kochi continues to be an indispensable event of summer in Kochi, as the root of such festivals across the nation.

Highlights

Dancing Forward While Sounding the Naruko The greatest feature of Yosakoi Matsuri is that the dancers hold naruko clappers in both hands and dance forward while sounding them. The brisk clattering sound of countless naruko ringing all at once is unique to Yosakoi, and one can feel the exhilaration of the festival not only through sight but through hearing as well. Holding these naruko is the basic rule of the Yosakoi dance.

The Jikatasha Floats That Color the Streets Leading each team is the jikatasha, a float gorgeously decorated and loaded with music and lighting equipment. Because the teams dance forward to the music that flows at high volume from the jikatasha, the float is, so to speak, a moving stage device. The elaborately designed jikatasha itself is also one of the highlights.

Free Medleys and Choreography The music of Yosakoi is free in both arrangement and choreography, so long as a phrase of the Yosakoi Naruko Odori is included in part. Thanks to this generous rule, a truly wide variety of medleys and performances are born, from the orthodox Yosakoi Naruko Odori to rock and samba styles, and the individuality of each team collides.

Coordinated Dances of Large Numbers Each team is permitted up to a maximum of 150 dancers, and the force of large numbers in matching costumes dancing without a single misstep is overwhelming. The dynamic group dance, unfolding while the formations are rearranged, is a scene in which the greatness of the scale and the results of the teams' practice are fully displayed.

Competition and Performance Venues throughout the City The festival unfolds simultaneously at several competition and performance venues within Kochi City. Beginning with the headquarters competition venue on Otesuji, known for its Sunday market, and extending to shopping streets and parks, various places around the town become stages for the dance, and spectators can enjoy the performances of their favorite teams while touring the city.

The National Competition and the After-Festival On the final day of the festival, a national competition is held in which teams selected from across the country gather, and one can see the essence of Yosakoi from various places all in one place. The sight of the teams of the home ground of Kochi competing with teams from across the nation is a highlight unique to the present, now that Yosakoi has spread throughout the country.

Event Information and Access

• Location: Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture (the Otesuji headquarters competition venue and competition and performance venues throughout the city)
• Dates: August 9 to 12 every year (eve festival and fireworks on the 9th, main festival on the 10th and 11th, national competition and after-festival on the 12th)
• Origin: Founded in 1954, led by the Kochi Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Scale: About 190 to 200 teams, totaling some 18,000 dancers
• Music: Based on the Yosakoi Naruko Odori composed by Eisaku Takemasa
• Access: A few minutes on foot or by the Tosaden Kotsu streetcar from JR Kochi Station to the city center

Around the Area

Otesuji, the center of the festival, is a street known for its Sunday market, where about 300 stalls line up every Sunday, and it shows a bustle unique to Kochi even outside the season of Yosakoi Matsuri. Kochi Castle, rising at the end of the street, is designated a National Important Cultural Property as one of the few castles in the whole country where both the keep and the main hall survive, and the view from Otesuji is a landscape symbolizing Kochi City.

Kochi City is a land that produced many great figures, including Sakamoto Ryoma, a patriot of the end of the Edo period and the Meiji Restoration, and at Katsurahama a statue of Sakamoto Ryoma stands together with a magnificent view overlooking the Pacific Ocean. One can encounter the history of Tosa at places such as the Kochi Prefectural Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum and the Kochi Castle Museum of History, and one can also enjoy a historical stroll together with the festival.

Kochi is also known for the richness of its food, and there are many shops in the city center where one can savor the local cuisine of Tosa, beginning with seared bonito. Hirome Market, where a variety of local dishes and local sake are lined up, is popular with tourists as well, and after being stirred up by the heat of Yosakoi, one can fully enjoy summer in Kochi with the flavors of Tosa.

Related Information

• Month: August
• Prefecture and region: Kochi Prefecture (Shikoku region)
• Origin: Founded in 1954 for the purposes of postwar recovery and encouraging the citizens
• Music and tool: The Yosakoi Naruko Odori composed by Eisaku Takemasa, and the naruko held in both hands
• Scale: About 190 to 200 teams, totaling some 18,000 dancers
• Influence: The root of the Yosakoi-style festivals across the country (such as the YOSAKOI Soran Festival)

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