Sapporo Obon Festival
[Last updated 8.23.2003]

Obon is a Japanese Buddhist festival celebrating the spirits of the dead. Details can be found here and here. The highlight of the festival is a simple dance performed en masse by anyone who wants to participate. I believe every town has its own version of this dance. In Sapporo, the dancers paraded their way around Odori Park for about 70-80 minutes. This video clip and the pics below are a taste of the experience.

[HIVE MIND DIRECTIVE #09-WA55] [ROTATE LEFT ARM FROM SHOULDER 20 DEGREES ABOUT Y-AXIS] [ROTATE RIGHT ARM FROM SHOULDER -20 DEGREES ABOUT Y-AXIS] [SHAKE BOOTY IN RANGE OF [-30, 30] DEGREES ABOUT Z-AXIS] [END TRANSMISSION]

Even the gents can't get enough of the sweet dancin' action.

Odori Park, all dolled up for Obon.

After the dance concluded, these crazy monkey shills took the main stage. They extolled the virtues of Megmilk dairy products rather than flinging oversized cartoonish feces at the audience. I was kind of disappointed.