Bon Odori - Bon Dance

Japanese: 盆踊 - ぼんおどり

A group dance performed during the Obon festival. It is a dance to honor the souls of the dead, and originally consisted mainly of Nembutsu dances accompanied by Buddhist prayers, but after the Muromachi period, it became more diverse and entertaining, incorporating the fashionable Ise dance and Komachi dance, which were popular for their elegant style. In many cases, a tower is set up in the precincts of a temple or shrine, or in a town square, and dancers form a circle around it, but there are also dances such as the Awa dance in Tokushima, which are performed as a hanging dance procession. Regional folk songs are used for the Bon dance, and drums, gongs, flutes, and shamisen are used, but some places sing long narrative songs incorporating kodori-bushi.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

盂蘭盆 (うらぼん) に踊られる群舞。死者の霊を供養するための踊りで，もとは念仏で囃された念仏踊が中心であったが，室町時代以降，流行の伊勢踊，小町踊などの風流系の小歌踊などを取入れて多彩となり，娯楽性が強くなった。寺社の境内や町の広場にやぐらを設け，それを中心にして輪になって踊る形式が多いが，徳島の阿波踊のように掛踊式に行進するものもある。地方の民謡を盆踊唄とし，太鼓，鉦，笛，三味線などを使うが，口説節を取入れて長編の叙事的歌謡を歌うところもある。

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