New release on Makoto Kubota's label. Awa Odori, or the Awa Dance Festival takes place in Tokushima, Shikoku every Obon, during August. It is considered the largest dance festival in Japan with about 1.3 million attending. Koenji is an area of Tokyo, popular with students, that has developed its own Awa Odori. It was started in 1956 by immigrants from Tokushima and has become the second largest dance festival in Japan with 12,000 dancers, 188 groups and over 1 million visitors. Kubota has become entranced with this Koenji Awa Odori, particularly the groove, the zomeki. This is a 2 CD 12 track set of those sounds, mainly taiko drums, kane bell and shinobue flute. It's a sound that has been heard in Japan for centuries but has become urbanized over time.
