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, 2024
Venue: Around Sannomaru Square, the site of Sasayama Castle
Ruins (31 Kitashinmachi, Tambasasayama City, Hyogo)
The details of the contents to be announced.
2024 Event information
[Date and time]
August 15th (Thu) 3:00pm-9:15pm
August 16th (Fri) 4:45pm-9:00pm
[Venue]
Around the Sasayama Castle Ruins Sannomaru Square (31 Kitashinmachi, Tambasasayama City, Hyogo
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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 – 9:45pm / Approximately 180 night stalls line up on the west side of Sannomaru Square!
Thursday, August 15th
| 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. |
| 5:00pm – 5:30pm | Dance workshop (Instructors from the Dekansho Bushi Preservation Society will teach you how to dance) |
| 5:40pm – 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 |
Friday, August 16th
| 4:45pm – 5:15pm | Dance workshop (Instructors from the Dekansho Bushi Preservation Society will teach you how to dance) |
| 5:40pm – 6：00pm | Tsuzumi hand drum/Taiko |
| 6：10pm – 6:30pm | Junior Performance Contest (from the front of the post office to the Sannomaru Square. Energetic Dekansho Kids Dance!) |
| 6:30pm – 6:45pm | Awards Ceremony for Junior Performance Contest and photo session |
| 6:50pm – 7:10pm | 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 – 9:00pm | Yagura dance |
Transportation information
*The Sannomaru Nishi parking lot will be closed from August 6th (Monday) to August 18th (Friday).
[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 |