Eisa Dance

A traditional dance performed in Okinawa during the Bon festival season, rooted in Ryukyuan folk beliefs. Performed as a ritual to welcome and send off ancestors, it involves dynamic dancing with drumming. A vibrant performing art symbolizing Okinawa's unique culture and history, with significant international recognition.

An Obon folk dance from Okinawa Prefecture. Originally a ritual to welcome and send off ancestral spirits, it has become a summer tradition. Characterized by large drums and hand dancing, representing Okinawa's unique music and dance culture. Registered as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

A traditional Okinawan Bon dance. During the lunar Bon season, youth in yukata or creatively designed costumes dance while playing drums. Characterized by dynamic, powerful movements, it represents Okinawan folk culture. Becoming formally organized throughout Okinawa since the 1950s, it is now registered as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

A premier summer festival of the Tohoku region held every August in Aomori City. Enormous illuminated warrior-themed floats called nebuta parade through the streets while dancers known as haneto leap to the chant of 'Rassera.' It is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan.

Japan's largest Bon dance festival with over 400 years of history in Tokushima Prefecture. Known for the chant 'It's a fool who dances and a fool who watches—if both are fools, you might as well dance,' it is held annually during the Obon period in August. Groups called 'ren' dance through the streets to distinctive rhythms.

A Japanese summer event based on the legend of Orihime and Hikoboshi, observed on July 7th (or August in some regions). The custom of hanging paper strips inscribed with wishes on bamboo branches is widely practiced. The Sendai Tanabata Festival is one of Japan's largest, attracting over two million visitors annually.