Shall We Dance
Today is the last day of Sapporo’s Yosakoi Dance Festival. Poor dancers, it’s been raining the past few days since the festival started. Saw them dancing in the rain on TV and admired their high spirit and energy level. Finally the weather turned fine today and to show my support, I went down to the Odori Park with a few friends.
I had to park my bike 10 streets from the TV Tower where I was supposed to meet my friend as the road was blocked. We then decided to have lunch at the TV Tower first. It was such a fine day and we were lucky enough to get a window seat. I’m a little embarrassed to say that it’s my first time actually going up the TV Tower. Maybe I because of the thought that it’ll always be there so I never consider going.
To my surprise, the food was tasty and the price was very reasonable, given the premier location. Of course we had the privilege to enjoy the full view of Odori Park.
There were different groups of dancers from all over Japan and some from overseas as well. The highlight of the day was a participative dance near the center stage where anyone who wanted to join the dance would be given a blue kimono cover outfit.
Everyone was high – family and kids, friends, all jumped in and dance to the music. We got our costumes and danced foolishly with the crowds. It was fun!
It’s nice to see people of all ages, healthy and handicapped, all having a good time as performers as well as spectators. I personally like the atmosphere of Yosakoi Festival better than the Snow Festival here in Sapporo. And there’s more food stalls with more varieties. If we didn’t eat so much at the TV Tower Restaurant, I’d definitely try all the snacks I can.
Real time Odori Park view from TV Tower