Page 231 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide: Japan

SHIK OKU  229

Awa-Odori Dancing
Tokushima’s celebrations for O-Bon,
the festival of the dead on August
12–15, are the liveliest in Japan.
Special dances, called Awa-Odori,
are meant to welcome ancestral
spirits on their yearly visit to the land
Palanquin on the steps leading up of the living. Nicknamed “the fool’s
to Kompira-san
dance” because the refrain “you’re a
fool whether you dance or not, so
Konpira-san, the spiritual you might as well dance” is sung, the
guard ian of seafarers. The target Awa-Odori allegedly originated
of pilgrimages for cen turies, the when rice wine was passed out to
shrine now attracts four mil lion the townspeople of Tokushima to
visitors per year and is believed celebrate completion of a castle. Awa-Odori dancers, Tokushima
to bestow good luck upon
fishermen and sailors. 4 Naruto
A 785-stair climb (or ride includes exhibits of Awaji
in one of the palanquins Whirlpools ningyo joruri, a variant of
Bunraku puppet theater.
available) takes visitors up Naruto Whirlpool
the rugged mountainside to
the shrine, set in beautiful Tokushima prefecture. £ Naruto stn, P Memorial Hall
grounds. Within the complex, then bus to Naruto Park. g Uzushio Tel (079) 952-2888. Open daily. &
the Asahi shrine is built of line ferry (088) 687-0613; Aqua Eddy
(088) 687-0101.
zelkova, a rock-hard wood
that forms an excellent Where the tip of Awaji Island 5 Tokushima
medium for carved relief work. nearly touches Shikoku – a Tokushima
The nearby Omote Shoin and wedge between Osaka Bay,
Oku Shoin have celebrated Seto Inland Sea, Honshu, Tokushima prefecture. * 265,000.
screen paintings by Maruyama Shikoku, and the Pacific k £ n 6F Clement Plaza (088)
Okyo. The first presents burly Ocean – the tidal pull on these 656-3303. _ Awa-Odori (Awa
tigers bristling with Zen distinct bodies of water creates dancing festival, Aug 12–15).
∑ city.tokushima.tokushima.jp
energy, the second includes large disparities spawning
a waterfall flowing across a powerful currents and Tokushima forms the gate way
corner of the room. whirlpools. Navigating the into Shikoku from the Kansai
The oldest Kabuki theater in churning waters of this 1.6 km region of Honshu and is the
Japan, the Kanamaru-za, can (1-mile) strait has been a traditional point of entry for
also be found in the town. part of Shikoku lore for over those who set out to duplicate
a millennium. Kukai’s pilgrimage (see pp232–3).
Sightseeing The old name of the province,
boats now ply the Awa, gives its name to the town’s
20-kmph (13-mph) Awa-Odori celebration in August,
currents and which is broadcast nationwide.
whirlpools, and
provide startling Environs
views of the Onaruto South of Tokushima, the Anan
suspen sion bridge, Coast is known for fishing
part of a bridge villages, beaches, and the sea
system linking turtles that lay and hatch eggs
Shikoku and from June to August.
Honshu via Awaji
Island. When the
northern end of
the system was
complet ed in 1998,
it had stretched 1 m
(3 ft) as a result
of ground shifts
caused by the
Kobe earthquake.
At the Awaji end
of the bridge, the
Onarutokyo The impressive suspension bridge at Naruto,
Votive hall at Konpira-san, near Kotohira Memorial Hall completed in 1985

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