臺北市新住民專區網站英文版

Every year, in the evening of August 5 to 7 the main streets of Yamagata City is always crowded with people. the gathering people would sing and dance on the street, and everyone would hold a flower hat decorated with red flowers. This celebration is the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival, it is one of the four major festivals in Japan’s Tohoku region. The festival draws in over 10,000 participants every year. In the hot summer’s night, the dancers would follow the music of The Hanagasa Ondo (a Japanese folk song) and do the Hanagasa Odori dance down the streets of Yamagata City.
The Yamagata Hanagasa Festival was only part of the Zao Summer Festival, it didn’t become its own independent festival until 1965. There are three main types of Hanagasa Dances: Onna Odori     Otoko Odori, and Kasa Mawash (Hat Spinning) Dance. You can even join the parade with dance moves you created. The only thing that every participant has to have at the parade is the hanagasa (flower hats). The hanagasa is usually decorated with safflowers, the flower of Yamagata. If you don’t have a hanagasa with you, the Festival provides simple paper-made small hanagasa. You can easily pick on up and join the parade to show off your dancing skills with the moves you just learned.