Bon Dance Festival, is coming back, after 30 Years

    In Iketani, people in the village are now in the middle of preparation for Bon Dance festival after 30 years .

  Thanks to the village revitalization program which started when the village was restored from Niigata Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake in 2004, many people are starting to visit this depopulated village.  The villagers started challenging depopulation now.

  It has been 5 years since the earthquake occurred, this year, people who used to live in Iketani will visit there again and sing and contest a traditional, regional song with the current villagers. The villagers, the volunteers and visitors at the Bon Dance festival will dance together with the singing voices and Japanese Drums. These drums were protected by grove of the village shrine and survived the earth quake. During the festival, local cuisine cooked by women in the village will be served as well.

　Please support “The next challenge of Iketani and Iriyama” with your power.
We look forward to seeing you at Iketani!

<Bon Dance Festival Schedule>
Place: the Square in front of the Iketani village Meeting House “Blooming Ikedan”(Minoru Ikedan)
Time: Start at 20:30 and end at around 23:00 (estimated)

The photo gallery for the festival is now open

Click here