Shimokitazawa Awa Odori 2024
Shimokitazawa Awa Odori 2024 was hot. I mean that in every sense of the word. The Saturday night was a scorcher. Most people know summers in Tokyo have been warming up over the last few years. But that didn’t stop the performers from putting on a superb show. I hope you enjoy the photos.
Who dances at the event?
Teams, called ren (連) in Japanese, of up to several dozen dancers participate. Wherever there is an Awa Odori, they’ll be there. Some of them consist of hundreds of members and have existed for many years. The following groups performed at Shimokitazawa in 2024:
- Brilliant (燦々)
- Hatsudai Encouragement Dragon Association (初台 鼓舞龍連)
- Higashirinkan Akuren (東林間 阿呍連)
- Higashirinkan Gorakuren (東林間 伍楽連)
- Higashirinkan Isui (東林間 壱粋)
- Kichijoji Treasure Ship Association (吉祥寺 寶船連)
- Koenji Benkei Ren (高円寺 弁慶連)
- Koenji Kasumiren (高円寺 華純連)
- Koenji Shinobu Ren (高円寺 しのぶ連)
- Koenji Toshusai (高円寺 東洲斎)
- Koganei Sakura Ren (小金井 さくら連)
- Kyodo Purple Group (経堂 むらさき連)
- Shimokitazawa Hifumi Ren (下北沢 ひふみ連)
- Sangenjaya Sancharen (三軒茶屋 三茶連)
- Shimokitazawa Yattoko Ren (下北沢やっとこ連)
- Showa Shinkin Bank (昭和信用金庫連)
- Tokyo Ebisu-ren (東京 えびす連)
Note on Shimokitazawa Awa Odori 2024 photos
Shimokitazawa’s street lighting is very poor so the streets were dark. The dancer’s movements compounded the problem. I had to use higher shutter speeds to reduce motion blur. Straight out of the camera, most of the images were underexposed.
Of course, I edited them in Adobe Lightroom. I did that with the platform’s new noise reduction AI technology. It did a superb job. I honestly can’t do without it. It’s a part of my workflow now.
Conclusion
Shimokitazawa Awa Odori 2024 was awesome. The photos have been my best so far for this type of event. I only had one gripe about the night. It was so hot I felt like I was in a sauna. Still, it was worth it. Most importantly, next week will see us in Koenji for that dance festival.
Please share this article on social media if you think others would enjoy the photos.
Rohan Gillett
Rohan has lived in Tokyo for 30+ years. He loves photography and okonomiyaki. His camera will photograph the entire city one day.
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External related websites:
- 56th Shimokitazawa Awa Odori Festival (official website)