Editor’s Note: This article covers my experience at the Shimokitazawa Awa Odori Festival in 2025. For the most up-to-date information and practical tips, see: A Guide to the Shimokitazawa Awa Odori Festival.
It’s summer again, and the Tokyo Awa Odori is back. This time I went to Shimokitazawa. I left the station, and while I was walking to the dance area, I could hear a few takaio drums pounding out a gentle beat for their dancers to warm up to. Occasionally, I could hear a flute. When I got to my usual position, something which proved to be my fatal mistake for the night.
The Kyodo Murasakiren (経堂むらさき連) dance group, from a nearby station, was right in front of me. What? That had never happened before. I didn’t get it. It confused me because they always started somewhere else and moved in one direction.
It didn’t take long for the countdown to start. The ring of the cymbals was the first of the instruments to start. Then it was the beat of taiko. The dancers started to move. They were heading in the wrong direction. I was in the perfect position for Shimokitazawa Awa Odori 2024, not 2025!
I panicked a little because that group was one of my favorites. When the Awa Odori starts, every group’s energy state is at its highest level, and I missed it. Missing that opening shot was a fatal mistake as far as I was concerned.
I assumed they would take the same route they had taken in previous years. I fell into the complacency trap and thought I knew everything. That was a mistake.
Do you know the old saying, “Make your bed and lie in it”? That applied to me well and truly. I made the best of my situation and got my photos. As each ren (dance group) reaches the end of the route, they head to the start and repeat. You see each group several times a night.
The simple solution to this is to be proactive and check the website for events before heading out to avoid disappointment. It’s a valuable lesson I hopefully won’t repeat. Still, I got some good photos that I am happy to share with you.
Have you ever had a bad experience like this? Share your experience in the comments below.
Rohan has photographed Tokyo since 2011. He shoots it with his Canon EOS R5. There are no plans to stop.
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You can find the most current information on the official Shimokitazawa Awa Odori website.