Tokyo Otsuka Awa Odori
The annual Otsuka Awa Odori dance festival has been running since 1972, and it involves over 1,000 dancers every year. The pre-event festivities are held at the station-front plaza on August 22. There will be a ceremony, followed by mini Awa Odori dance performances.
The main festival however, falls on Saturday August 23 from 4pm, with around a dozen groups of dancers parading along Minamiotsuka-dori street in front of JR Otsuka Station’s East exit. This year, the festival is celebrating its 51st year with a line-up of venerable local awa-odori dance troupes, including Shinsuiren and the Toriren Awa Odori Club from Toshimagaoka Joshigakuen High School, which is one of only four such high school clubs in all of Japan.