Kagurazaka Street Stage O-edo Tour 2020
Traditional performing arts festival set in the entire town of Kagurazaka
Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture) and NPO Ikimachi Club has been postponing the Kagurazaka Street Stage O-edo Tour 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic since May; however, we are presenting the festival videos online from January 2021.
Kagurazaka Street Stage O-edo Tour (Japanese Culture Online Festival) is a traditional performance art festival all over the Kagurazaka areas such as Kagurazaka-Dori street, Bishamonten Zenkoku-ji Temple, and Akagi-jinja Shrine, become the performance stages.
From the seniors to the younger, who are Kagurazaka natives, have been playing the major roles of the festival, and they gathered and performed various kinds of traditional performing arts here, where reminds us of the Paris-like atmosphere.
The followings are some of the examples of the performances: “Koudan” storytelling, Rokyoku, playing traditional Japanese instruments, such as shamisen, “Shakuhachi” bamboo flute, “Sou” Japanese harp, and “Kokyu” Japanese fiddle; furthermore, magics and acrobats were performed.
Also, because Karyukai (Geisha community) is located in the Kagurazaka area, some programs, such as Ozashiki Asobi (Traditional Japanese Parlor Games) and Shinnai Nagashi, playing instruments while strolling the alleys, created a unified festival atmosphere among the people in Kagurazaka and the town.
Considering the current Covid-19 pandemic circumstances, as an alternative program, we decided to present four videos focusing on the Kagurazaka town and traditional performing arts.
Flashing back the past festivals and interviews with the former performers and people in Kagurazaka, as the navigators, traditional performing arts performers, who performed the previous Kagurazaka Street Stage O-edo Tour, introduce the appeals of the traditional cultural performances and Kagurazaka. Please watch and enjoy.
