This weekend was also Koenji Awaodori, my favourite of all festivls in Japan. 12,000 dancers take to the street.

First held in 1957, it is not only the most electric, often feeling more like a rock concert than a cultural festival, but also one of the biggest festivals in Tokyo - attracting 1.2million visitors.

The festival has a pretty interesting site in English here: http://www.koenji-awaodori.com/indexEn.html

I guess what I like most about the Koenji Awa Odori is seeing everyone, both the participants and the onlookers, having such a great time - especially seeing young Japanese getting down enjoying their culture so much - something you don’t really see in the West. Ok, on with the videos, not the best quality, and try to imagine the sound about 10 times louder…