The Filipinos has been greatly influenced by the Japanese culture because of the Japanese Anime shows which has been shown in afternoon TV slots. These anime shows had somehow made the afternoons of Filipino children more enjoyable. Even after this, the grown ups had still adored Japanese stuffs and shows from movies to mangas to anime series.
Because of this, more and more Japanese culture enthusiasts had been hooked into it. And out of that, several Japanese events have been held in the country. One of them is the Bon Odori Japanese Summer Festival. Also, this has been celebrated in line with the Philippines-Japan Friendship celebration. This year is the 61st anniversary since the Philippines and Japan Diplomatic relations has been settled.
So this blog is intended to show you what were my impressions during the recent Bon Odori 2017.
Image credits: spectrum.ph
◕ What is Bon Odori? ◕
I did some research on what Bon Odori means. Here are some of the useful information I have dug in:
Bon-Odori means “Bon Festival dance”. It is an event held during Bon Festival every summer in Japan. This is a Japanese Buddhist holiday to honor the departed spirits of one’s ancestors.
Information reference: ippo-abacus.com
However, wikipedia has a better explanation about this event which also explains that Bon Odori is actually the traditional dance which is performed during this festival. Here's the definition:
Obon (お盆) or just Bon (盆) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist-Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori.
Information reference: wikipedia.org
After reading on the history of the Bon Festival, I learned that this was derives from the story of a Buddha disciple who had made use of his supernatural power to look for his dead mother. His mother was somehow located in the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts and was greatly suffering. He asked Buddha to take his mother away from that place. Buddha agreed but in return, he the disciple must make offerings to the Buddhist monks.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
After doing so, he saw his mother taken from that sorrowful place and also witnessed his mother's kindness. Because of the joy he was feeling, he danced which was referred as Bon Odori or Bon Dance which meant appreciating and reminiscing the sacrifices of the ancestors.
◕ Joining Bon Odori For the First Time ◕
While I was really out of idea what the Bon Odori really meant, I had been interested with all the activities presented from their advertisement on social media. I always thought this event was only to showcase Japanese culture and their cosplaying as that was what I usually saw in the photos and videos from the past festivals held in Cebu.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
I was not aware that this event somehow was equivalent to our Day of the Dead. Anyways, I learned all of these just now after researching about the event since I need to blog about it.
First time that I have heard about Bon Odori was in 2016 where the second event was held in Cebu, same spot - SRP Grounds and I was invited by a college friend about it. She was a Kawaii enthusiast and Manga/Anime lover. She posts all her Cosplay dresses and costumes on her social media account and she told me about the event. She was also the same person who invited me to witness the MATA Expo.
I got interested but was not able to make it on 2016 so when the 2017 event came up, I didn't let this pass away without joining. I marked my calendar and set up alarms on my phone and my social media event pages so I won't gonna miss it. And I didn't.
Well, actually I did miss the first day because James went to his company's Summer Outing 2017 and he arrived home late so we instead went for the second day which was a Sunday.
◕ Some Bon Odori Activities ◕
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
Several activities were listed on Bon Odori's Facebook fan page. They had laid out the itinerary and the sequence of events. My attention was caught by the Cosplay Contest and the Fire Dance as well as the Fireworks Display. There's a specific Japanese All Female Drum Group too which sounds interesting.
The Bon Odori 2017 was set on May 27 and 28, 2017 at the Sugbu Grounds, SRP within Cebu City itself. The opening day and the second one shows almost the same except for some activities like the opening and National Anthem singing so I thought missing the first day was okay.
Here are the first day activities:
Image credits: ippo-abacus.com
On the second day which fell on a Sunday, I had encouraged James, my husband that we should be there at three for the opening of the event but then we were a bit late because we ate at SM SeaSide first. We arrived around four in the afternoon and paid Php 20 for the entrance fee per person.
The Bon Odori Japanese Summer Festival has indeed listed a lot of exciting activities which I believe will surely get us in a festive mood. There were lots of free food tasting booths. There were Japanese Food Stalls as well which offered Japanese Foodies like my favorite Takoyaki. There's also Japanese sweet treats like the Apple Candy and Mochi. While there were even more stalls which offers Japanese items like Yukatas and Kimono. Some other Anime items were also present like Masks, costumes, cosplay items and a lot more.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
Indeed these items had been waiting for their owners to grab them. There were also other booths which offer free gifts like Japanese fans and hats.
Anyway, we were able to witness a few activities:
◕ Rice Pounding ◕
As we were approaching the main stage of the SRP grounds where this event was held, we spotted empty seats at front so I sat in there and saw the members who were doing the Rice Pounding activity.
Traditional Rice pounding was illustrated by the Japanese men with their traditional costume. They were holding huge fans and a large wooden bowl with a wooden pestle and were constantly pounding whatever was inside the bowl.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
As what I had learned, the rice pounding is called Mochi. Here are some information about how to make the traditional Mochi.
To make mochi, steam glutinous rice and repeatedly pound it in an ‘usu’ (large wooden bowl) with a ‘kine’ (wooden pestle) while it’s hot. This is called mochi-tsuki, or pounding rice-cake. It’s usually only made for special celebrations such as New Year’s Day and seasonal festivals. Recently, pounding mochi with a machine has become more common.
This is team-work performed by two people; tsuki-te, the person who pounds the steamed rice with a pestle, and kaeshi-te, the person who flips it over in the wooden bowl stand while it’s pounded.
Information reference: tadaimajp.com
◕ Hapon 3 ◕
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
This is a fun part because Hapon 3 means three Japanese men who were comedians and had given the audience a good laugh. They began with entering the stage on their very cute Pikachu outfits.
After that, they danced the Voltes V song and they even wore Sailor Moon dresses as well. It was also fun seeing them doing basketball for Shohoku or the Slam Dunk which was really a hit in the Philippines since we love basketball.
Lastly, they did five sets of comic skits which were all fun and had given us a really good laugh.
◕ Karaoke Contest ◕
This was another type of contest where the participants will be singing original Japanese songs. The judges were from Japan as well and if they like the singer's way of singing, they'll ring an approval bell to notify the singer that he or she will advance to the next level. In case the singer didn't pass the judges standards, he or she will hear a gong bell.
There were more than ten contestants in the contest and for me they sang their songs quite well however my favorites were those who sang familiar songs like the Voltes V theme song, the Slam Dunk theme song as well as the Ghost Fighter theme song too.
Video credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
I really like the activity and it was a fun entertainment. Singing a Japanese song was indeed hard but these contestants did great. The winner though was the lady who sand the Voltes V song. It was entertaining and she received a price of Php 3000.
◕ Yukata Contest ◕
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
This part of the event showcases the beauty of wearing the Yukata, a lighter version of Kimono. This is worn by Japanese women during the Bon Odori Festival because the event is always held during summer. This is light and is very much thinner compared to the traditional kimono in that way, it is not that heavy and is comfortable during the entire event.
A yukata (浴衣) is a Japanese garment, a casual summer kimono usually made of cotton or synthetic fabric, and unlined. Traditionally yukata were mostly made of indigo-dyed cotton but today a wide variety of colors and designs are available. As with kimono, the general rule with yukata is that younger people wear bright, vivid colors and bold patterns, while older people wear dark, matured colors and dull patterns.
Information reference: wikipedia.org
There is a proper way of wearing the Yukata and the proper arrangement as well as fit for the person wearing it. In fact there's a specific color which should be used for whatever age the person is.
This contest does judges the women wearing the Yukata according to these criteria as well as on how they wear it, if they were graceful enough with walking and moving around while wearing it.
All contestants presented also a dance while on their Yukata dress. A question and answer portion was also done during the contest. At the end, one of them was hailed the Miss Yukata for the Bon Odori Japanese Summer Festival 2017.
◕ Cosplay Contest ◕
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
Lastly, we had witnessed the Cosplay Contest. This is different to the previous Cosplay contests we had seen. Typically, we have seen cosplayers just walking around having their photos taken and act accordingly.
However, in this contest, the entries would show a play, a scene from the movie or the animes they are portraying. One of the contestants showed a dance performance, there were some who played a scene and more.
A summary of how the event in our own perspective. Video credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
Overall, both my husband and enjoyed the event. I found it very overwhelming in terms of covering the participants and the people around. It was also challenging because there were so many people around and distractions were everywhere.
But we truly liked being able to take videos and photos. It was fun to see all those cosplayers and the performers on stage.
Since the Japanese loves sweets such as Mochi, Apple Candy, Cotton Candy and such, I have included a chatbot about Sweets. Please don't forget to participate on the Querlo blog below:
Best regards,
Jean Beltran-Figues
