During this summer dance festival,
the center of Kochi City turns into a stage for vivid performances,
parades and celebrations.
- Six elements
forming the fabric of theYosakoi Festival - All of these important elements help set each team apart,
with careful consideration given to every last detail,
from the colors and shapes, to the materials used.
- Dance
- The rules are simple – besides shaking their naruko and dancing in a procession, dancers just have to smile and enjoy themselves.
A mass of 100 or so dancers, moving in perfect unison, make for an awe-inspiring spectacle. Witness the energy of each dancer feeding into the energy of the entire team.
Experience the sheer power and scale!
- Costume
- Costumes are a visual representation of a team's identity.
They feature bold artistic designs and are the pride of each team.
- Music
- All songs must include the phrase "Yosakoi naruko odori," but otherwise, teams can play any musical style they like.
This freedom allows for infinite musical possibilities, such as creative takes on traditional tunes or the combination of multiple melodies in a single song.
With so much drama and progression, every song is almost like its own musical!
- Jikatasha
- These floats built on trucks serve as a kind of moving stage and are symbols of their teams.
Covered in the team's colors and all sorts of decorations, they add to the energy of the festival by blasting rallying cries, taiko drumming, and other audio accompaniments.
- Naruko
- Naruko clappers come in all shapes and sizes, from traditional ones in vermillion, yellow and black, to customized ones in a team's colors.
How dancers use their naruko is actually an important judging criterion, so that is usually the first thing they practice.
- Medal
- Some festival venues have judging areas where judges with decades of experience and keen eyes award medals of appreciation to the most dynamic dancers with the biggest smiles.
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