Ohara
Gozaimasu Mike Clapis (Tokyo)
Dogenzaka. Whether or not you've heard the name, you have most certainly seen it in pictures and videos. This shopping district is home to the densely-packed Shibuya Scramble crossing, a favorite location for tourist selfies and impromptu interview segments for NHK. The Shibuya 109 shopping mall proudly towers over the space like a watchful mother, bearing gifts of cosmetics and neon activewear commercials. It might be the most famously crowded city block in Tokyo, which makes it a good contender for most crowded worldwide. As a Tokyo resident, I avoid Dogenzaka at all costs. Just the thought of the inevitable train-cramming that awaits on my commute to and from the place is enough to get a claustrophobe like me breathing into a paper bag. So if you told me when I first got here in 2014 that I’d be dancing up the legendary Shibuya thoroughfare with around 2,000 others wearing a bright cotton happi and matching headband under the hot Tokyo sun, sidewalks lined with cameras capturing every moment, I might have been a little skeptical. The Ohara Matsuri, as this event is known, has its origins in Kagoshima, where it is renowned as the largest dance festival in Southern Kyushu. Every year, the city floods with troupes of dancers and street performers keeping Edo-era Kyushu artforms alive.
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