I vividly remember when I was 12, in 2001 I saw the yagura (tower = central wooden stage) set up in the middle of Padang Ipoh, next to my father's office in Ipoh, Perak. I managed to convince my mum to allow me to join the festival, and this the first time I learn of Bon Odori, the festival of the Dead (or more accurately to honor the spirits of one's ancestors).
Left to Right: Yan Ting, Tina, Kae and Me. We decided to have only girls night out (actually each of our other half are here too but we completely omitted them in our outing hahaha).
Traditional Japanese culture has a large following in Malaysia – and Bon Odori is no exception. Every year the Bon Odori celebrated at many parts in Malaysia, mainly big cities such as Ipoh, Penang, Johor Bahru and even some areas n Kuala Lumpur, but the main Bon Odori festival will always held at the National Sports Complex, Shah Alam, organized by organised by The Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur, The Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur, and the Embassy of Japan, in cooperation with the Alumni Look East Policy Society (ALEPS), the Japan Graduates’ Association of Malaysia (JAGAM), The Japanese Chamber of Trade and Industry Malaysia, Tourism Selangor Sdn Bhd, with the support of the state government of Selangor and Invest Selangor Berhad.
Bon Odori - Japanese Traditional Dance. There are several traditional dances in Japan, but the one of the most famous and common dance is Bon dance (odori), which is called "Bon Odori" in Japanese. People dance Bon Dance in the Bon Festival. The Bon Festival is held every summer, in every district in every city.
Bon means welcoming ancestors' souls and holding a memorial service for the souls. There is a Bon week in August every year, and Bon continues for about a week. During Bon, sometimes all relatives of family gather and hold a memorial service for their ancestors, and enjoy being in a reminiscent mood. This traditional comes from Buddhism in China.
The Bon Festival is held during in Bon week, and people gathers at the near open-space or the parks, and dance with traditional Japanese music. The music should be happy music to welcome the ancestor's souls, and people have a duty to make a happy, mysterious, and welcoming mood. Moreover, the Bon Dance should be held in the night because Japanese people believe that ancestors' souls come back in the night.
Fast forward now in 2017, after 2 years been attending Bon Odori with friends, I already learn my lesson to come early, the moment the event place open at 4pm++. Why? because of the parking and jam! ==|| Even when we were this early we still ended up parked far from the field and had to have long walk (but hey at least we got a parking spot!)
To be honest I'm quite annoyed as this is 2nd year in the row I' wearing the same yukata (an unlined cotton summer kimono, worn in casual settings such as summer festivals and to nearby bathhouses) - but being fussy with the designs (and not to mention yukata is quite pricey), I have no choice but to stick with the same one.
Tina and I walked around and I didn't know she's been recording me (but I'm super glad she did!). I finally get to try the famous Mizu Shingen Mochi (raindrop Cake). The taste is meh to me so I wasn't sure why people been raving about it. Tina thinks because this was prepared by a cheap vendor and it was mass produced. She's pretty sure if in Japan it would had been fantastic. Mmmmnn gonna out that in my bucket list if I ever go to Japan.
Oh this year the game booths were less crowded than years before so I decided to play one!
Not bad, I had always take pride with my shooting skill so quite happy I actually won something. Tho I can't remember what I had won haha....Actually I can't remember anything from this...Haha... Thanks for the video Tina otherwise I might had forgotten this.
Finally the first main (and best) part of the festival begin! The dance!
Bon-Odori varies from region to region, but in most cases the dance is performed around a central wooden stage called yagura (tower), where the singers and the taiko (a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments) drummers are performing. By night, the stage is lit with multi colored paper lanterns, and the atmosphere becomes enchanting…
There are many cases in which the movements of the dances passed down from long ago are made to coordinate with lyrics describing such actions as "harvesting the rice" or "scooping the mud". This gives the dance the unique quality of being easy to remember, meaning anyone can easily participate. Dress can consist of anything, but since the choreography is based around yukata, people can often be seen wearing it while dancing.
Just like in ages past, Bon-Odori, with its emphasis on rhythm and lively movement, continues to liven up the summer nights of the present day as well.
Originally a Nenbutsu (a term commonly seen in Pure Land Buddhism) folk dance to welcome the spirits of the dead, the style of celebration varies in many aspects from region to region. Each region has a local dance, as well as different music. For Malaysia, specifically at the main festival, we have 3 specific dance routines and music.
Again thank you Tina for the video! It's quite lucky she is behind me so I'm in the video haha. After 2 years attending I kinda have memorized the dance routines but they're easy and repetitive anyway, it's super fast to catch them up :)
Among the highlights during Bon Odori were the drum performance by Japanese school students, a dance performance by the Japanese Hogaku Association, a “WaDaiko” performance, and a Selangor Cultural Dance show. Here is the WaDaiKo performance.
And finally, the last and man part of the festival - or some may say they come for this. The Hanabi, the fireworks display! You see in Malaysia fireworks had been illegal since 1955 and had become more strict recently. However there are exceptional when it comes to festivals, religious festivals especially and it needs paperwork and authorization.
Glad I brough a proper camera this year to capture the hanabi. Previous years shots had been nothing but very disappointing (lousy phone camera) ahahahaha .
With this, the 2017 Bon Odori festival close the curtains :)
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