Kaze no bon

1 - September 3, Sunday – Tuesday

Toyama

Kaze-no-Bon is a Japanese festival held every year from September 1 to 3 in Yatsuo, Toyama, Japan. Kaze-no-Bon literally translates to "Bon Dance of the Wind."

This festival, having a history of about 300 years, recently became a popular tourist attraction to the otherwise sparsely populated mountain area. The original festival was held in order to appease typhoons and allow for a bountiful harvest of rice.

The festival is uniquely held at night, creating an atmosphere sometimes described as "creepy" by onlookers. The streets are decorated with paper lanterns, and long rows of young men and women, their faces covered by low-brimmed straw hats, dance simultaneously to melancholic music. This particular style of music is also unique to the region, using the somewhat-unknown kokyū. A well-aged female voice and a traditional shamisen often accompanies the kokyū.

Kaze no bon