Tambasasayama Dekansho Festival in 2023 / [Around Sasayama Castle Ruins]
About the origin and etymology of “Dekansho”
In the two volumes about Tambasasayama, ‘The 75-Year History of Sasayama Town’ (pub. 1955) and ‘The 100-Year History of Sasayama Town’ (pub. 1980). There are two explanations for the etymology of the name Dekansho. That is very interesting in many ways, each volume adopts a different theory about the origin. ‘The 100-Year History’ asserts that “it is just a Hayashi Kotoba (words added to a song for rhythmical effect) and has no special meaning”. But, ‘The 75-Year History’, surprisingly adopts the “Descartes Kant Schopenhauer” theory, which explains the word Dekansho was created from part of the names of the famous philosophers Descartes, Kant, and Schopenhauer.
For more information about the Dekansho Festival, please see the Dekansho Festival Official Website ”. (Available only in Japanese)
Date: August 15th and 16th, 2023
Venue: Around Sannomaru Square, the site of Sasayama Castle
Ruins (Kitashinmachi, Tambasasayama City, Hyogo)
The details of the contents to be announced.
2023 Event information
[Date and time]
August 15th (Tue) 3:00pm-10:00pm← Cancelled due to typhoon
August 16th (Wed) 4:45pm-10:00pm
[Venue]
Around the Sasayama Castle Ruins Sannomaru Square (31 Kitashinmachi, Tambasasayama City, Hyogo
Download the brochure here (pdf) Japanese only
Schedule
*Both for 15th and 16th
” Andons and City Decoration ” All day / Andons, or paper-covered lanterns, will light up the castle town area. The pictures on each lantern are drawn by the students of elementary schools in Tambasasayama city. The best work will be exhibited in front of Sasayama Post Office and announced at the festival.
” Night market/food stall village ” Early evening – 9:30pm / Approximately 180 night stalls line up on the west side of Sannomaru Square!
” Dekansho Lottery ” Dance until the end of the festival and win a gorgeous prize! Lottery tickets will be distributed at the dancing venue from around 8:30pm. The lottery results will be announced on the official website on August 17th!
Tuesday, August 15th
10:00am – 12:00am | Tambasasayama Dekansho Karuta World Tournament (Gigantic karuta tournament where everyone from younger elementary students to adults can participate! You can win grand prizes) |
3:00pm – 4:30pm | Yagura concert (brass band concert on the Yagura by students of elementary, junior high and senior high schools in Tambasasayama city) *Yagura is a raised stage used during the traditional bon dance. |
4:45pm – 5:15pm | Dance workshop (Instructors from the Dekansho Bushi Preservation Society will teach you how to dance) |
5:30pm – 6:00pm | Opening, Greetings, Kagami Biraki, Decoration Award announcement (A sake brewing song by Tamba Toji, the Kagami Biraki, and then local sake will be served)*The Kagami Biraki is a traditional ceremony that involves breaking a sake barrel to celebrate a special occasion or event, which symbolizes good luck. |
6:00pm – 6:20pm | Performance Contest (A hot battle of dance, costumes, and choreography). |
6:30pm – 6:35pm | Ancient style Dekansho-bushi performance |
6:40pm – 7:00pm | Performance Contest Awards Ceremony |
7:10pm – 8:15pm | Yagura Dance (Over 1,000 people dance together. Anyone can participate!) |
8:15pm – 8:30pm | Sasayama Ondo song with Fireworks (1,000 fireworks launched on both 15th and 16th) |
8:30pm – 9:15pm | Yagura dance |
Wednesday, August 16th
4:45pm – 5:15pm | Dance workshop (Instructors from the Dekansho Bushi Preservation Society will teach you how to dance) |
5:00pm – 5:30pm | Let’s play the Tsuzumi hand drum on the yagura! (Performed by elementary school students, who are taught by the Noh performer Shonosuke Okura, on the yagura) |
5:30pm – 6:00pm | Junior Performance Contest (from the front of the post office to the Sannomaru Square. Energetic Dekansho Kids Dance!) |
6:10pm – 6:30pm | Tsuzumi hand drum/Taiko (Shonosuke Okura and Kojo-gumi) |
6:30pm – 6:50pm | Awards Ceremony for Junior Performance Contest |
7:00pm – 7:05pm | Ancient style Dekansho-bushi performance |
7:10 pm~ 8:15pm | Yagura Dance (Over 1,000 people dance together. Anyone can participate!) |
8:15pm – 8:30pm | Sasayama Ondo song with Fireworks (1,000 fireworks launched on both 15th and 16th) |
8:30pm – 9:15pm | Yagura dance |
Transportation information
*The Sannomaru Nishi parking lot will be closed from August 7th (Monday) to August 18th (Friday).
[For days other than August 15th and 16th]
Private cars, please use the nearby municipal parking lot (free for one hour/maximum 400 yen per day).
Sightseeing buses, please use the Gunge sightseeing parking lot (451-2 Gunge, Tambasasayama City).
[August 15th and 16th]
Sightseeing buses, please use Sasayama Junior High School (224 Higashisawada, Tambasasayama City) as a parking lot.
[Japan Heritages] Dekansho Bushi, the folk song that has been sung since the Edo period The Story of Japan Heritages
Tambasasayama is a castle town that flourished during the Edo period. The climate, personalities, places of interest and specialities of each period have been sung in the folk song ‘Dekansho Bushi‘, which has been handed down since the Edo period. Local people love and sing the song, preserving the hometown landscape as depicted in the folk song world and fostering an attachment to the region.Even today, efforts continue to be made to pass on new
Tambasasayama to future generations by creating new lyrics and singing them. Now, through the lyrics of more than 300 ‘dekasegi bushi’, the streets and traditions of Tamba Sasayama can be experienced not only in the songs, but also here and there in the real world.
About the origin and etymology of “Dekansho”
The next two volumes explain in detail, ‘the 75-year history of Sasayama Town (1955)’ and ‘the 100-year history of Sasayama Town (1980)’. It’s very interesting in many ways, for example, each volume adopting a different theory about etymology. ‘The 100-year history’ asserted that “it is just a Hayashi Kotoba (words added a song for rhythmical effect) and has no special meaning”, but ‘the 75-year history’ surprisingly adopts the “Descartes Kant Schopenhauer” theory, which explains the word Dekansho was created from part of the names of famous philosophers Descartes, Kant, and Schopenhauer. For more information about the Dekansho Festival, please see the Dekansho Festival Official Website ”.. (only in Japanese)
Basic information
Map | View on |
Website | To the website |
Event information
Venue | Around Sannomaru Square, the site of Sasayama Castle Ruins (Kitashinmachi, Tambasasayama City, Hyogo) |
Inquiries | +81-79-552-0758 |
Organizer | Dekansho Festival Executive Committee |
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