DoMatsuri abbreviation for “Nippon Domannaka Matsuri (The Central Japan Festival)” is annual event which was originally organized by local university students with the objectives to spur the local economy and raise the spirits of the depressed Japanese community. This large scale event is modeled (YOSAKOI Solan Festival) which is held annually in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Held annually at Hisaya-odori Park, Yaba Park and Osu Kannon Temple, the city of Nagoya is transformed into a vibrant street festival that is filled with celebration mood and energy among all the generations.

Participants for DoMatsuri consist of university students, students from the Chubu region and also senior people. All participants will perform dances along the street that vigorous spirit of community and as part of the celebration of the summer season. Each team has around 50 to 150 dancers with a total of 30 teams. All teams need to follow two rules for the participation in DoMatsuri (i) teams are required to use their regional folk songs. However the song can be re-arranged into other music like jazz, hip-hop, rock, samba etc. (ii) Teams are required to traditional wooden instrument called Naruko. All the dancers shake their Naruko in synchronized fashion, producing a unified splash of sound and motion.  

* For more photos, please checkout my Flickr photo album set.