Written by Adriana Paradiso
Researched by Alexandra Ziminski
Taking place outdoors on the closed-off streets of Kōenji, this summer festival knows how to put on a traditional dance party.
What happens?
The Kōenji Awa Odori Festival fills two days with shedloads of dancing. While a surprisingly high number of events at this time of year take place during the scorching daytime heat, this festival is a bit more sensible with festivities kicking off during the cool of evening. Organizers tout 10,000 dancers and musicians and an expected 1 million people turning up to watch.
Schedule
Everything starts just as the sun is setting at 5 p.m. and the procession finishes promptly at 8 p.m. – on both days.
How to get there
The procession of dancers takes place along the wide road that runs to the south of JR Kōenji Station, with two distinct performance zones — one next to the JR station and another located closer to Shin-Kōenji Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line.
