Awa Odori is a traditional dance festival originating in Tokushima City in 1586, when Lord Hachisuka Iemasa of Awa, the former name of Tokushima prefecture, hosted a celebration of the opening of Tokushima Castle.

“The locals, having consumed a great amount of sake, began to drunkenly weave and stumble back and forth. Others picked up commonly available musical instruments and began to play a simple, rhythmic song, to which the revellers invented lyrics.” (Wikipedia)

Awa Odori is believed to be the largest dance festival in Japan which attracts over a million tourists every year. Because of its popularity, other cities started to hold their own Awa Odori.

This year, I’d been to three Awa Odori festivals: (1) Kagurazaka in Tokyo, (2) Yamato City in Kanagawa, and (3) Koenji in Tokyo.

(1) Kagurazaka, Tokyo | 24th July2010

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(2) Yamato, Kanagawa | 25th July 2010

In Awa Odori, women wear a yukata, a summer kimono made of light cotton, and amigasa, a hat made of woven rush grass, and dance in a more stylish way. They turn the palms inward and upward, and gracefully move the wrists. (web-japan.org)

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(3) Koenji, Tokyo | 29th August 2010

The troupe sings “Ya-to-sa” as they dance through the city streets. The lyrics of the Awa Odori festival song include the phrase, “the dancing fool and the watching fool are both fools, so let’s dance!”

Odoru ahou ni, Miru ahou, Onaji ahou nara, Odorana son, son
(Crazy Dancers / with other crazies watching them / Since both alike are mad / You might as well dance.)

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Hamaorisai is held annually during the Marine Day (Umi-no-hi) in Chigasaki City, Kanagawa. Hamaorisai, which literally means “descend to the beach festival”, is a summer festival in which people take the mikoshi, or the portable Shinto shrine, into the sea.

The photos were taken from 4:00 to 7:00 in the morning on the 19th of July, 2010.

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Tanabata is a popular celebration in Japan which is, in modern times, held on the the first weekend of July. Also known as wish festival, Tanabata is derived from the Chinese star festival, Qi Xi (七夕 “The Night of Sevens”)．

It celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). According to legend, the Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The celebration is held at night. — Wikipedia

Around the first week of July, festivals are held in many places in Japan. Streets are are decorated with colorful paper streamers and lanterns.

In Japan, people write their wishes on narrow strips of paper and hang them on trees or bamboo branches placed in the backyards or in the streets where the festival is on.

Below are some of the wishes people write on the colored paper strips.
“I want to be happy.”,
… “I want to be rich.”,
“I want to be good in tennis…”,
… “We wish to be forever in love with each other.”

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All the photos were taken at the Tanabata Festival in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa.

Basilica del Santo Niño is a 16th century church in Cebu City in the Philippines. It is known to be the oldest church in the Philippines. It was built on the exact spot where the image of the Santo Niño, a sculpture depicting the Holy Child Jesus was founded by Spanish explorers in 1565 preserved in a burned wooden box which was left behind during the 1521 Magellan expedition. –Wikipedia

I went to visit the church during its 2nd day of novena for the celebration of the Feast of Santo Niño, or popularly known as the Sinulog.

The Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January. The festival honors the so called vision of the child Jesus, known as the Santo Niño (Holy Child), who used to be the patron Saint of the City of Cebu (since in the Catholic faith Jesus is not a saint, but God). It is a dance ritual that commemorates the Cebuano peoples Islamic and pagan origin, and their acceptance of Roman Catholicism. –Wikipedia

Here are some of the photos I took inside and outside the church.

A vendor taking a break from selling candles.
I thought at first she was praying, but look closely…

Sto. Niño images being sold along the sidewalk.
FYI: The Santo Niño was given by Magellan to the chieftain of Cebu, Rajah Humabon (Carlos), and Hara Amihan (Juana) in 1521.

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Devotees wave their arms as they sing “Batobalani sa Gugma” (Magnet of Love)
Because the number of devotees keep increasing over the years, a pilgrim center was built within the church compound opposite of the Basilica and Holy Mass is celebrated on Fridays and other Religious Festivities are held here in the open-air, theater-like structure.

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A close up shot of the devotees singing “Batobalani sa Gugma”

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A devotee raising an image of the Sto. Niño as he struggles to go near the pilgrim center.