Koenji Awa Odori 2019 is getting close… never heard of it? It’s one of the most popular festivals in Tokyo. Not as crowded as Sanja Maturi though!
Koenji, the neighborhood where the festival takes place, throws itself into it. All year around you can see references about it, even the JR station has permanent draws about it. Indeed, they take it seriously, if you are interested on joining to one of the dancing groups you are asked to do weekly training during the whole year!
If that was not enough sacrifice think about dancing for hours in Tokyo at Summer! Believe me, these pictures were from last year and I didn’t stop sweating the whole day just by clicking my shutter… luckily the convenience store are more convenient than ever during summer and you can easily get some nama biru or even better a cold hai boru 🙂
When the night falls the temperature gets a bit better and more and more groups keep dancing and playing through the narrow streets of Koenji.
If you happen to be in Tokyo at the end of August, more concretely the weekend of 24-25th of August, come to the Koenji Awa Odori 2019… you won’t regret it! I let here the official website in case you need more information about it.
Once the festival is finished you can feel the vibe of this area on one of its multiple restaurants, izakayas and live music bars. Nevertheless Koenji is considered as an alternative area and it has so much to offer. Luckily Koenji remains kind of a secret stop for tourists so shhh… let’s keep it this way 😉
