The Bon-odori, a Japanese dance which is part of the Obon Festival, is widely enjoyed by the people in Tottori

Tottori

Tottori can refer to:* Tottori Prefecture - a Japanese prefecture with 613,229 people.* Tottori, Tottori - a Japanese city with 202,015 people.* Tottori Sand Dunes...

 during the summer. There are various bon-dances throughout Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, and the dances in Tottori can be categorized as Kasa-odori (a dance with a paper umbrella

Oil-paper umbrella

Oil-paper umbrella is a kind of paper umbrella originated in China. It spread across Asia, such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Okinawa, Thailand and Laos. People in these countries have further developed the oil paper umbrella with different characteristics...

s) and te-odori (hand dance).

Tottori City's Shan Shan Festival (Kasa-Odori)

The Kasa-odori is very popular in the eastern part of Tottori Prefecture

Tottori Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region. The capital is the city of Tottori. It is the least populous prefecture in Japan.- History :Before the Meiji Restoration, Tottori encompassed the old provinces of Hōki and Inaba...

. According to a legend in Kokufu

Kokufu, Tottori

was a town located in Iwami District, Tottori, Japan.On November 1, 2004 Kokufu, along with the village of Fukube, from Iwami District, the towns of Aoya, Ketaka and Shikano, all from Ketaka District, the towns of Kawahara and Mochigase, and the village of Saji, all from Yazu District, was merged...

, in the Edo Period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 (1603–1867) during a drought, an old man named Gorosaku danced with an umbrella for the village god praying for rain. Gorosaku danced with the umbrella until he died, and the drought ended. These days, the dance is performed with ornamented paper umbrellas and Japanese swords, which represent the beautiful but gallant local culture of Tottori.

External links

• Tottoris Prefecture Page