[Update: This post has had better-quality pictures and video of the dancers and musicians from the 2023 Koenji Awa Odori Festival added to it.]
It’s summer movie season now, but in Japan, it’s also summer festival season. One of the biggest summer festivals in Tokyo is the Koenji Awa Odori Festival. On the last weekend of August, over a million people descend on the Koenji neighborhood to watch dance troupes take to the streets in a three-hour parade. In Japanese, the troupes are called ren — no relation to Kylo Ren, though there is a Star Wars tie-in with this post.
Odori means “dance,” and Awa Odori is an Obon dance that originates from Tokushima Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. A typical ren has a procession of people performing the women’s dance (onna-odori), the men’s dance (otoko-odori), and the “tomboy” style (where the women dress and dance like men).
One member marches out in front, carrying a pole with paper lanterns and the troupe’s name on it. The dancers in the women’s section wear summer kimonos, straw amigasa hats, and wooden geta sandals. In the men’s section, they wear happi coats and sometimes bandanas tied around their noses.
Below, you can see the Tokyo-based troupe Kasumiren dancing Awa Odori on the streets of Koenji. The dancers don’t necessarily appear in the same order every time. Bringing up the rear, though, is usually the narimono, or musical ensemble, which features taiko drummers, flutists, and shamisen players.
The Star Case Shop in Koenji, Tokyo
While the Koenji Awa Odori Festival only takes place that one weekend in late August, Star Wars fans in Tokyo will find another draw to this part of town year-round. That’s because the Koenji neighborhood is also home to Star Case, a shop dedicated solely to Star Wars merchandise. As far as I know, it’s the only shop of that kind in Tokyo. And it might be especially ripe for a visit now that Solo: A Star Wars Story, the new Han Solo spin-off directed by Ron Howard, has finally hit theaters in Japan (as of yesterday).
Star Case carries mostly vintage Star Wars collectibles, like the original line of action figures from Kenner and the ‘90s Power of the Force toys. Its shelves are stocked with a lot of other random Star Wars memorabilia, too. This is the place where I bought that special Japanese-themed Stormtrooper figure, which you may have seen pictured in other “Star Wars in Japan” posts. The figure, which didn’t come cheap, is part of the Meisho Movie Realization line from Tamashii Nations.
