Yosakoi: folk dance, not so traditional

In 1954 the good people of Kochi, on the island of Shikoku, were looking for a way to attract tourists. They had the great idea of creating a dance! The musician Takemasa Eisaku made a mash-up of three 3 traditional folk songs and put the result into the public domain. Then by combining this music, farming dances and the use of naruko, yosakoi was born.


The naruko is a wooden noise-maker which was used to scare birds away from the crops. The name Yo(Night) Sa(at) Koi(Come) means "come at night"...


At the beginning, the dances were mostly based on the o-bon style of dances. O-bon is the big summer festival in Japan. Then yosakoi gained popularity across Japan and all styles of music were used. The yosakoi music always include some traditional music but it can be remixed into samba, rock'n roll, rap, blues or whatever the group wants to dance to.


Each dance troup has a specific colourful costume, the result being a feast for the eyes as well as for the ears; or it's an assault, depending on your mood and the quantity of sake consumed. A yosakoi team include two people with the dancers: one person waving a huge and heavy banner bearing the name of the team and "the leader" who does the introductions and marks the rythm during the dance.


Yosakoi festival often include some kind of competition between teams. The rules are usually only two: the use of a folk song and dancing while using naruko. So the teams have a lot of freedom! Sometimes even these rules are optional, and the dancers hold different objects.


At the Hokkaido festival in June, the song to be used is "Soran", a fishing folk song. In August you can see the festival in Kochi with of course the original "Yosakoi Naruko Dancing" song. Sasebo (Nagasaki-ken) is the venue for the biggest yosakoi festival in Kyushu at the end of October. In Tokyo the "Harajuku Omotesando Genki Matsuri Super Yosakoi" is held in August. Unfortunately there is no rule concerning the length of the festival's name.


The yosakoi teams can dance in front of the public on a stage or they may be part of a walking competition: one after the other, the teams dance while walking down the street towards the judges. The public watches from the sidealks where food (and the usual festival junk) is for sale. The inconvenient of this competition is that, in order to be fair, all the teams dance on the exact same music. You hear the same 4-minute song all day!!! Add the sake, always abundant at a festival, and you have brainwashing on a large scale. It is fun.




Yosakoi dances are now part of most festivals in Japan, and there are lots of festivals in Japan, all year round. Because of the freedom in styles, the yosakoi dancers are from all demographics, from children to their grandparents. I am not saying they all break-dance, but the energy displayed by even the older dancers is amazing!


Yosakoi is a team sport, so dancers must rehearse constantly to stay in synch and learn new choregraphies. Practicing yosakoi is an excellent way to stay in shape. It may be the next fad from Japan to sweep the world, so be ready; you read it here first.