Awa Odori, the "Dance of fools"

Started 400 years ago in Tokushima, on the Shikoku Island, the Awa Odori dances are now present in several other places in Japan. I took this photo at the Kagurazaka Awa Odori, a great fun festival taking place in August in Shinjuku, Tokyo, on the streets nearby the Bishamonten Zenkokuji temple.

The dancers are chanting "Odoru aho ni miru aho; onaji aho nara odoranya son son!" - "It’s a fool who dances and a fool who watches; if both are fools, you might as well dance!", so the dance was nicknamed "the dance of fools".