An old-fashioned Bon Dancing danced under the moonlight in the night of the plateau
A numerous old folk arts are distributed in “San en Nanshin Region of the Tenryu River basin, and it is also called the “treasure house of folk entertainmenth. Among the region, Niino, Anan-chou is a small town on plateau where various folk entertainments; such as Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival) in winter and Bon Dancing in summer; are handed down.
The Bon Dancing that is danced throughout the night during the 3 days of Bon Season is an old-fashioned one which is danced only with the Ondo (a chorus by natural voice) and without the Hayashi (musical accompaniments). The lyrics also leave old words.
The highlight of Niino Bon Dancing is Odori Kami Okuri (A dance to send the spirits of the gods off) that is performed in the daybreak of August 16. The young ones who try to dance until the end, and Kiriko Dourou (The Kiriko Lantern) = the new spirits which makes its way pushing the young ones aside perform a hard but impressive battle.
Niino Bon Dancing performs Odori (Dance) and Okuri Gyouji (An event to send the spirits off) as one, and it is a very valuable cultural asset which hands down the aspect of the folk customs of the period of our ancestors.
| Schedule, Location | |
|---|---|
| Schedule | August 14 to August 16 / On the final day, the dance continues to the daybreak of August 17 |
| Location | Niino Anan-cho Shimo-ina gun Nagano Prefecture |
| Transportation | |
| Trains, buses | JR Tokaido Shinkansen, Toyohashi Station-JR Iida Line, Nukuta Station (About 3 hours)/ Shin-nan Koutsuu Nukuta-Niino (50 minutes) |
| Cars | Take Kokudou (National Road) No. 151 from Iida IC of Chuo Jidousha Dou (Chuo Highway), and head to the direction of Anan-chou (About an hour) |
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