Subject: Bon Odori
I am doing a paper on how dance constructs identity and am interested
in the experience, feelings,and thoughts that result from either
watching or participating in the Obon Festival. I was wondering
if you could answer a few questions:
- Do you become closer with your ancestors through this festival?
- How did you learn the dances?
- When you perform bon odori, what thoughts or feelings go through your mind?
- What do the dances and/or this festival teach you?
Thank you very much.
Subject: Re: Bon Odori
> 1. Do you become closer with your ancestors through this festival?
that's a great concept and yes, i think we do feel connected with those
we are paying homage to. i think about my grandpa and baachan A LOT during
the obon season, not merely during the dancing alone.
> 2. How did you learn the dances?
i learned outside the local dojo where by brother used to take
judo.
we would practice for weeks before the obon (where it was basically a
carnival-style obon, as they often are...) and run to the multi-purpose
room after practice to get our reward...popsicles!
> 3. When you perform bon odori, what thoughts or feelings
> go through your mind?
> 4. What do the dances and/or this festival teach you?
i was fortunate to learn by attending our local buddhist temple's obon
that obon is not about carnival festivity -- it is about reflecting on
those who have passed before us, and their efforts and what is thus
meaningful to our lives (put very simplistically). the dance is about
the DANCE - enjoying ourselves and paying tribute. Our reverend
often passes along the quote, "better to be a fool dancing than a fool
watching"... so i think about my family a lot, what they have gone through
to allow me to be here in this space dancing this wonderful dance with
so many others. since the dance is circular, i think about the
connection i have to the others who are dancing, and about my memories
of past dances, past obons. the dance is a big reminder to me to let
myself have fun, let myself go ... i don't worry about whether my moves
are perfect or not. i just have a great time. can you tell i am excited
for the season to begin?
thanks for the questions and giving me a chance to reflect on something
i consider very important.
Subject: Re: Bon Odori
> 1. Do you become closer with your ancestors through this festival?
Dance and music touch me in a different place than my conscious mind,
they stir memories stored way most of the year like treasured kimono.
To move my whole body and not merely my mind or mouth in familiar
rhythm to familiar sound to is let myself be moved wholly by the spirit
my ancestors pass on to me, and to become one with it. Particularly in
the exquisite simplicity of the Obon dance at the beginning and end,
I feel like a ripple in the river of time from past to future.
> 2. How did you learn the dances?
I don't remember going to practices, but I remember Baachan rolling and
cinching my five-year-old body into unfamiliar kimono and stiff obi. I
recall trying clumsily to follow the dance while my tabi slid from side
to side on slick plastic-covered zori. For us, the reward was
baloney sandwiches and orange pop.
In my adult life, I've only made time to go to practices a few times.
The Obon dance and Tankobushi are the only two I know by heart.
I went to some practices 5-6 years ago for 2-3 consecutive years
and learned a lot of new, complicated dances, requiring
good attendance and attention to get down properly. I really liked them
a lot, but lately every summer seems to slip by without my being able
to go to practice or even attend Obon itself.
>> 3. When you perform bon odori, what thoughts or feelings
>> go through your mind?
>> 4. What do the dances and/or this festival teach you?
>
> the dance is about the DANCE - enjoying ourselves and paying tribute.
> our reverend often passes along the quote "better to be a fool
> dancing than a fool watching"...
in my city I notice some of the older Nisei women and young people from Japan
understand that the steps matter less than the spirit and celebration.
It is a good lesson to see them having more fun than some people who
have gone faithfully to all the practices and are concerned with getting
it "right".
It's funny, just last night my hakujin partner and I drove past a bar.
"That's where I learned to dance (US style)!" I told him.
The beautiful people sat at tables around the dance floor, being cool.
The music was great but nobody was dancing. I jumped up and said to my
date, "Who's the bigger fool, the one on the dance floor having fun, or
the ones watching and wishing? Let's do it'". I had never heard the
reverend 's quote. It must have the wisdom of our ancestors talking.
Spam-Bon: In one Asian group that meets once a year, someone brought the
music to Tankobushi, and the Nikkei taught it to the Filipinos and
Chinese. The next year, everyone wanted to do it again, but no music.
We found a rock and roll song with a similar beat and the steps fit
perfectly. Sort of like nori-maki with baloney or Spam musubi, we made
do with what we had.
Subject: Re: Bon Odori
Obon to me is a very special time. When I was a kid, my mom would take
me and my brother to go to Hawai'i cause that's where my whole mom's side
of the family lives. It was there that my Hawai'i grandpa (That is what
we used to call him) took me to my very first Obon. I don't know why it
was or what, but one summer night he when took just me with him to one
Obon festival in Maui. Dere in one clearing in da woods they had one
pole stuck into da dirt and some old-fashioned booths in the ground
where they were selling saimin and stuff li' dat. Around da pole dey
had da 'kine people dancing around da pole in da old style kimono doing
da Obon dances and all dat. Even now I can remember da feeling that was
there in that event. It must have been like what da old time people must
have felt back in da homeland when dey was working in the fields li'dat.
Nowadays, when I go to Obon here and we dance over concrete and asphalt,
it is hard to get that feeling. Your feet never touch the earth ...
But no matter what and wherever I go, I have the memory of what it is supposed to be like.
I could be dancing on the fires of hell and still feel the way about it.
(Some say that because we live in this world of Samsara, the world of illusions,
that we really are in the fires of hell.) Needless to say, when I dance,
I think of my Hawai'i grandpa and grandma, and all da' kine relatives who have passed away.
And I really hope, in my heart, that the new generation will be
able to understand what it is all about, and what it means to us all.
Subject: Re: Bon Odori
> 1. Do you become closer with your ancestors through this festival?
Not in the literal sense, but there is a feeling of connection,
especially if one knows that their ancestors made these same
motions years ago in Japan. Sort of like one feels when you
walk on the same soil or land where your great-great grand
parents toiled in the fields.
> 2. How did you learn the dances?
One learns the dances by watching those who are more experienced
in knowing the steps. We (the teachers and the learners) become
a "community of learners" ... passing on the knowledge.
> 3. When you perform bon odori, what thoughts or feelings
> go through your mind?
First a deep awareness of your cultural heritage; second, you feel
a connection with all the other people -- dances and audience; and
lastly, you feel joy -- which is what the origin of Obon is.
> 4. What do the dances and/or this festival teach you?
The dance doesn't so much "teach" as "give" It gives one a sense
of belonging to a community. You do not have to be of Japanese
ancestry to have this feeling. I have heard many non-JAs express
this.
I would like to see what the results of your research shows.
Keep us posted!
Subject: Re: Bon Odori
It is odd for me to read some of the threads on this list that
focus on cultural things that I am not familiar with. I never was
involved in an obon. I have to admit, I feel sheepish reading
about things I feel unfamiliar with yet feel as if I should know
by heart.
A few years ago when I visited Kagoshima (one of the most beautiful places I
have been to, in southern Kyushu in the shadow of a living, spitting
volcano in the bay), I was involved in a "bon odori" street festival/dance.
We all improvised the dance by watching the hundreds of others,
and had a great time. Seeing some of the really tall Americans
in their tiny hapi coats, stumbling down the street in ragged rows was really a blast.
Also during this day, I watched in fascination when a large group
of men lined up and did a traditional dance to an electric version of
a song we had heard several times during our stay -- it must be a popular
local folksong -- and I swear, their dance turned out looking *exactly*
like an American country-and-western line dance. I was totally struck
by this odd juxtaposition of Japanese image to my mind's association
of cowboys with big hats moving in precise motions.
Subject: Re: Bon Odori
We did not have a Buddhist temple
and our Nikkei community probably would not have been big enough
to form a complete circle anyway. I did not attend my first Obon
Festival until I was an adult, so bon odori to me was something
akin to aerobics, "The Hokey Pokey" or "The Bird Song". Having seen
what fun bon odori is, the recent success of Texas line dancing or
"The Macarena" wasn't such a surprise.
> our reverend often passes along the quote "better to be
> a fool dancing than a fool watching"...
Great quote!
It is easy to look like a fool if one joins in "cold", without
the benefit of weeks of practice. The movements are complex
despite their simplicity. At first, just concentrating on
getting the steps right fills the mind.
I had the opportunity to be taught the Toyama-ken bon odori
by a visiting delegation a couple of years ago. They explained
how each of the movements represented an aspect of the life and
nature of the region . Knowing that helped with learning the
steps and understanding the significance of the dance.
> 1. Do you become closer with your ancestors through this festival?
>
> Not in the literal sense, but there is a feeling of connection,
> especially if one knows that their ancestors made these same
> motions years ago in Japan. Sort of like one feels when you
> walk on the same soil or land where your great-great grand
> parents toiled in the fields.
Those who feel uncomfortable doing bon odori at first should stick
with it -- eventually you will get (most of) the moves, and your mind
will be free to experience those feelings of connection. I had similar
feelings once when viewing, of all things, a Tokugawa-era chawan and
hashi set in a museum.
Subject: Re: Bon Odori
> I am doing a paper on how dance constructs identity and
> am interested in the experience, feelings, and thoughts
> that result from either watching or participating in the
> Obon Festival.
I am doing similar research, which I am calling
"Transmission and acculturation of the traditional culture of
Japanese immigrants in Brazil".
In the state of Parana (one of the southern states of Brazil),
well-known for its strong influence of immigrants, they have celebrated
the Folklore and Ethnic Festival every year since 1958. In this festival,
various ethnic groups such as Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese,
Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Ukrainian present their folk dance and music
during 10 days in August.
I had the chance to see this festival two times during the 1980s.
A contrast between the Japanese and the other European groups was
evident. The European folk dances generally had a quick rhythm and
were danced mainly by young couples. In the Japanese group, most
of the dances were performed only by middle-aged and elderly women,
and their dance, the Japanese traditional dance "Nihon Buyo", is very slow.
It had little appeal for not only the Brazilian audience which likes
samba, but also the younger Japanese descendants. Many people were
feeling weary of it.
In 1996, I had a chance to see this Festival again and was deeply
impressed that some children and young girls were dancing
Nihon Buyo in the Japanese group. Why did this change happen?
Is the traditional Japanese dance being transmitted to the younger
generation? This was the starting point for my research.
On the same occasion, I found out that the Japanese-Brazilian Cultural
Association in the city had been incorporated with the Nikkei Club.
One is the official representative of existing Japanese
associations and the other is a sport club.
This union, I came to know later, was a product of various elements
such as dekassegi movement, rise of Japanese-Brazilian politicians
at the federal and state levels, the coexistence of various
immigrant cultures in the "Ethnic Laboratory" (the nickname of Curitiba,
capital of Parana), and so on.
Subject: Re: Bon Odori
For Japanese dances, as for traditional music, tea ceremony and other roots cultural stuff,
I think it will take the commitment of some older JAs or an influx of
new Japanese immigrants who are trained in such disciplines to keep them alive.
In my small Nikkei community, the older members want to create a community center,
which would establishing cultural programs to teach some of these fading skills.
Is this a good idea? I'm split ... Not sure if building a center necessarily
means it will succeed. Plus, that is a lot of time and money and politics!
Subject: Re: Bon Odori
Some Japanese dance, such as Japanese buyo dancing, is a skill
that requires years and years of practice and training, like ballet.
As a rule, there aren't a lot of "amateur" ballet
companies putting on recitals and inviting the public to watch and participate.
On the other hand, there are dances that the public can join in ... most
of these dances are known as folk dances. Like square dancing and line
dancing, swing dancing and disco dancing, club dancing etc., folk dance
is a culture that can be passed down. For most of us, folk dancing
is something that you do only in the summer during Obon.
In Southern California, bon odori is done at many Buddhist churches.
None of the Obon dances are particularly religious, however, and for most of us,
they have lost their context. We don't do fishing dances because we are fishermen
(although if someone can choreograph a trout-fishing dance, it would be appropriate)
nor do we do a coal-mining dance because we are coal-miners.
Folk dances are a summer thing because the temperature is warm. Many
Japanese festivals happen during the summer, when a line dance such as
the bon odori makes sense.
There are other folk dances that can happen at other times of the year
for different purposes. There are harvest dances, and winter dances,
spring/fertility dances ...
If we can break out of the thinking that Japanese folk dancing is only
bon odori done during Obon, we can discover other kinds of dances
that we can do throughout the year.
Last updated 11 April 1999