Every summer, there is a big dance event called Yosakoi soran matsuri held in Sapporo, Hokkaido and it becomes the most hype place in Japan. It was my first time to visit the event. In this article, I am going to show how it was.
First of all, Yosakoi soran started in Hokkaido in 1991. Soran is a traditional dance in Hokkaido to a song that fisherman sang while catching tons of fish quickly with coworkers. Singing songs together would make a great efficiency at work. On the other hand, Yosakoi is a traditional dance in Kochi prefecture. How they mixed? – Once a guy from Hokkaido visited Kochi prefecture and saw Yosakoi, he was impressed and brought it to Hokkaido and mixed them, then Yosakoi soran was born.
The summer Yosakoi soran matsuri has become bigger and bigger every year. Before COVID, 270 to 300 teams performed at Yosakoi soran matsuri. Since the pandemic begun, Yosakoi soran matsuri was cancelled twice in row. But finally this year they figured out a better way to hold the event safely and Yosakoi soran matsuri took place in 2022 for the first time in two years.
There is a rule for teams performance for Yosakoi soran matsuri – Make sure to include some part of soran song in your music. The other parts of the music, it is going to be your original part.
Two kinds of performance style
There are two kinds of performance style – Stage and Parade.
Stage performance
All teams perform on two or three different stages. Stage is wide. Performances with lots of dancers are amazing on the stage. Waving flags in the performance is signature of Yosakoi soran. Team names on those colorful flags, different size flags. Sometimes they put a message to audience on flags. Those flags are definitely the things that add color and spice to the performance. All teams that applied for the event can perform during day. Some teams will be picked up among them and perform during night, which is a contest and there will be a winner.
Palade performance
Teams with a lot of members, also perform in the way called Parade. Parade is a performance that dancers dance forward on the straight road. They do that until the road ends. It means they perform about four or five times in a row. Some people say because it is so hard that there are some dancers out of breath and fall down. But Parade performance is so great as well, very different from Stage performance. Teams that are participating in Parade also have to prepare the performance for Parade. You will see their efforts and hard work dedicating to their performance.
It was my first time to visit and see the event. I did not know much about participating teams. But after I saw their performance in person, I found my favorite team. If you do not have any favorite team yet, do not worry. Visit the event and see their amazing performance with your own eyes. Which team impressed you? You liked their music? Choreography? Their passion? Any reasons will be fine for the team you like the most. Get hyped with the hottest summer event Yosakoi soran in the coldest place, Hokkaido next time!
