Awa Odori

What to know

Tokushima's Awa Odori (阿波おどり) is the most famous of many dance festivals held across Japan during the Obon season in mid August. Awa is the former name for Tokushima Prefecture while Odori means dance.

From August 12 to 15, spectators and dancers come to Tokushima in the thousands to see this "Fool's Dance" whose origins date back 400 years. The nickname comes from the lyrics to a common dance song: "Fools dance and fools watch, if both are fools, you might as well dance".

Although some events happen during the daytime, the main spectacle takes place in the evenings between 18:00 and 22:00, when groups of dancers, called "ren", perform in blocked-off streets of downtown Tokushima. Ranging from amateurs assembled just days before the event, to veterans who practice year round, the ren come from Tokushima, other parts of Japan and even from outside of Japan.

The groups dance through designated spectator areas (enbujo) in a procession, playing traditional musical instruments as they go. Although the dance steps are simple, ren distinguish themselves with difficult variations and colorful uniforms. Women wear cotton robes called yukata, while men wear happi (shorter yukata over shorts or pants). Like the dance, these standards vary from group to group.

In the evening, Tokushima's city center shuts down and is turned into a large dance stage. There are multiple different outdoor stage areas with either free or paid seating. The paid stages are sure to draw the professional groups, while the former will have more casual dancers as well. Typical festival flourish, such as food and game stalls, as well as more dancing, takes place outside of the stage areas.

Tickets for the paid stage areas can be purchased from around mid June in Japanese (from June 14, 2025) and from around July in English (from July 1, 2024) through Ticket Pia or 7-Eleven convenience stores nationwide. They cost between 1,000 and 15,000 yen for a 90-minute block of performances (first block from 18:00 to 19:40 or second block from 20:20 to 22:00) depending on the seat type. If vacant seats are left, same-day tickets are available.