Gujo City

For four magical nights each August, at Gujo Hachiman in Gifu, dancers revelers line the streets until dawn breaks over the surrounding mountains in celebration of Obon. Across most of Japan, the festival of Obon is celebrated from the 13th-15th of August (there are some regional variances). This festival is not only a time for Japanese to remember their ancestors, but also for the spirits of those ancestors to return to the family altars The highlight of summer in Japan is the obon holiday season, where dance festivals like the one at Gujo are held throughout the country. The Gujo festival is one of the largest and well known of the all-night variety of dancing festivals, attended by thousands of people from all over the region. Gujo Hachiman is located in Gifu Prefecture only an hour and a half from Nagoya by car on the road to Takayama, so why not make the trip and see what the fuss is all about? When I went there, the real bon dancing hadn’t started yet, but people were already getting into the spirit and dancing around the float on which men are playing and singing out the obon beat. Various stalls are set up…