Japan – Yokasoi Soran Dance Festival #HogsAbroad #TBT

This Throwback Thursday post from Marty celebrates the excitement of celebrating in a new culture...

On our final side journey of the trip, the Japan Study Abroad group flew to the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Here, we would travel to Sapporo, staying for three nights while enjoying the Yokasoi Soran dance festival. During our stay we would also be visiting Ishiya Chocolate Factory and the Sapporo Brewery museum.

Yokasoi Soran Matsuri is a traditional Japanese dance that started in the city of Kochi in 1954. The dance is usually performed in large groups ranging from 20-50 people choreographed to music with the dancers wearing colorful outfits. The participants are a mix of people from yokasoi dance schools and local dance teams with men and women of all ages.

Our first night in Sapporo, Dr. Robert Stapp showed us around the beautiful city of Sapporo. This city serves as the home for 1.3 million people, with skyscrapers and shopping outlets to match. While staying at the Toyoko-Inn, we enjoyed being between a McDonald’s and a KFC.

After eating an Italian dinner, our group found a comfortable spot to watch the dance festival begin. Groups emerged in vibrantly colored outfits, sporting the traditional styles of their hometowns. Stapp informed us that groups traveled from all over Japan to compete in this dance festival.
I enjoyed watching each group utilize martial arts practices and hometown traditions in each of their performances. I learned that many of these dance moves originated from the movement of fishermen pulling in their nets. Many teams would stylize this movement and incorporate it in unique ways throughout their performances.

One of my favorite groups arrived decked out in black, royal blue and white flowing robes. Before their performance began, each of the group members pulled out a plain white mask while striking a dramatic pose. They then stood still, producing an eerie mood throughout the dark street. Next, they threw off their outfits, performing an effective costume change and continued to dance the night away.

Tomorrow, I look forward to further enjoying the festival, visiting the chocolate factory, and eating a MASSIVE lamb dinner. Stappo-sensei has informed us that all the sheep in Hokkaido were going to be scared because the JSAP group was in town again. I’ll be sure to keep y’all updated on how our limitless lamb dinner tastes tomorrow night.

When he went to Japan, Marty was a sophomore in the Sam M. Walton College of Business studying Business Finance, Fine Art Ceramics, with a minor in Economics.
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To find out more about the U of A International Business in Japan program, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/wcobjapan