Making a tour of the Bon Dancing is fascinating.

Bon Dancings back in the mountains which we visited riding a bus that has only 2 services a day.
A mysterious Seirei Matsuri (A festival of the spirits) in the isolated island in the far south.
Nembutsu (Prayer to Amida Buddha) Dancing that we found unexpectedly under the highrise buildings in town.

There are hometowns for each dances.
Severe but beautiful nature, the streets unchanged since olden times, and regular vocation. The people who preserve the dances while living in the land, and the people living in the distant areas who return to the land taking a long time to participate in the dances.
We found an aspect of “Rich Japan” that we have never imagined of.
This site came about from the journeys we had as mentioned above.
The contents are:coverages and impressions of Bon Dancings in various locations, process of research on Bon Dancing, etc.
There are also sound recordings and moving images, so we hope you enjoy them.
We express our appreciations to:
The local people who kindly let us join the dancing circle.
Those of you who were intersted in our site and took time to pay a visit to it.
And all the people who created, raised, and inherited the wonderful public entertainment, Bon Dancing.

From the producers concerned in “Invitation to Bon Dancing”
Approach the whole picture of “Bon Dancing”
The history of Bon Dancing is long, and there are a variety of style. There are traditional Bon Dancings that come down from a long time ago, and there are new Bon Dancings of the present day. The figure changes with times since it is a public entertainment of the people. We approach from all sides that we can think of. Some day, we hope we can approach the whole picture.
Enjoy “Bon Dancing” with all kinds of ways
Basically, we visit the site. We actually visit the Bon Dancings in various regions during the season, and we enjoy them with our own eyes and ears. We try to participate in it as much as possible and have fun. We also have a lot of things to do in the off-season such as; literature research, sound source appreciation, research on other folk arts. Of course, building up this site is also one of our fun. We enjoy Bon Dancing with all kinds of ways throughout the season.
For the future of “Bon Dancing”
Bon Dancing and the tradition of its culture have been handed down from distant ages and from generation to generation. However, many of them are becoming extinct every year in various regions. It seems that there is a trend that people are drawing themselves away from Bon Dancing. The challenge of this site is to find out what we can do to hand down the wonderful culture of Bon Dancing to the next generation and the people of the world.
 
The profile on the producers of this site
The name of the group: “Shonan Bon Dancing Workshop”
E-mails to:e-mail: shonan@bonodori.net
Yanagita
Living in:
Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Occupation:
Working in a foundation, Researcher of leisure
Interested in:
History and folk custom
Loves music like:
Classical music, Japanese folk music, etc.
Hobby:
Browse around the secondhand bookstores, playing piano
Approach to Bon Dancing:
Shed light on the fascination of Bon Dancing, and want to become the Evangelist of Bon Dancing.
The role in this site:
Organizer, lead author

Shinke
Living in:
Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Occupation:
Care worker in an elder care facility
Interested in:
Studying foreign languages
Loves music like:
Rock’n’roll of UK and USA, especially those of the 70’s and 80’s
Hobby:
Jogging
Approach to Bon Dancing:
Would like to introduce Bon Dancing which you can enjoy the Japanese Culture casually to the people all over the world.
The role in this site:
Translation of the text written in Japanese to English (Looking for someone who could kindly proofread his English)

Ishimitsu
Living in:
Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Occupation:
Working for a manufacturer
Interested in:
Industrial psychology
Loves music like:
Classical music, Japanese pop music and rock’n’roll
Hobby:
Playing the trombone
Approach to Bon Dancing:
Getting stories of Bon Dancing from various regions, and would like to pass the present features of Bon Dancing down the generations.
The role in this site:
The administrator of this site