Visitors dressed as fox spirits, snow women, and one-eyed demons danced at an October festival in Tachikawa celebrating Japan's supernatural folklore.
A participant dressed as a white fox spirit dances at the Tachikawa festival.
On October 10, an out-of-season Bon Odori dance festival was held at Green Springs, a commercial complex in Tachikawa, Tokyo. Bon Odori is a traditional folk dance usually performed during the summer Obon festival.
Participants came dressed as yokai, the supernatural creatures of Japanese folklore, including shape-shifting foxes, snow women, one-eyed monsters, and crow-like tengu. Some children burst into tears at the sight of the eerie figures.
The Yokai Bon Odori festival began in Fussa, Tokyo, in 2019. Held over the three-day holiday weekend in October, it drew around 50,000 visitors last year. Combining music with traditional yokai culture, it has become a popular autumn tradition in Tachikawa.
Besides the dancing, the event featured a yokai parade, contests, and a makeup area. Visitors got a taste of a uniquely Japanese, early version of Halloween.
Hiroaki Suzuki from Kawasaki, joined the "Tachikawa Hyakki Yagyo" (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons) alongside other costumed yokai. He operated a glowing skeleton puppet that moved in sync with his own body.
"This is my third year in a row taking part, and each year I've expanded my puppet's range of motion," he said. "It's so much fun to see so many children smiling."
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(Read the article in Japanese.)
Author: Hayato Narita, The Sankei Shimbun