Every year in October I go to this festival in the Osu Kannon temple district of Nagoya, Japan to see the street performers festival. It’s a two day long festival, morning to evening, with acts occurring simultaneously at the eighteen or so fixed venues around the arcade. The better known acts attract large crowds, and can be hard to see if you don’t get to them early, but the smaller acts are not so crowded. The marquis acts include Kinpun Show (the gold painted dancers in bikinis and jock straps), the dance idol group OS U (Osu Super Idol Unit), the cross dressing butoh style dancer Decalco Marii, and pole dancers Himeno and Meriko. In the past, I have gotten there early and fought with the other photographers for prime viewing spots to see these popular acts, but this year, I had a photo job on Saturday, and on Sunday I was feeling mellow, so I decided to give the marquis acts a miss in favor of seeing some acts I hadn’t seen before. The first performance I saw on Sunday morning was a pantomime act by Barbara Murata. Apparently, it was her first time performing at the Osu festival. The gold dancers and the idol group were performing at different venues in the same time slot, so there were not many people watching Barbara, and I was able to get a seat. Barbara did a vaudeville type performance, where she was a rabbit drinking wine, and her partner, a man consisting of a birdcage with a mask and hat, which she controlled with her right arm, danced and flirted with her. It was an interesting act with classy music, and it was nice to be able to watch without the frenzied crowds. (Click the right and left arrows to see more photos) http://murata.cava.jp/
The next act I caught was Kana, who apparently had performed at Osu several years back, but was new to me. She is a hula hoop performer who seems to have a big following. I went about half an hour early to get a good seat, but the previous act (a chainsaw juggler/pole climber guy—Performer SYO!) was still going on, and when his act finished, most people decided to stay for Kana’s act, so I had to squeeze in to get a seat with an unobstructed view. It had clouded over a bit by then, so the light was good, but the background ended up being the grey wall of the condo next to the parking lot. But, at least it provided a dark backdrop. https://www.performer-kana.com/profile-japanese/
Next was a local theater group that I had seen before, but who always create an entirely new show for each year’s festival. The performance was dialogue heavy, and hard to follow, but the crowd was small and mellow and it was a nice fall afternoon, so I was happy to just enjoy the visuals. They are called Hara Project. http://haraproject.com/
I stayed and watched Firedance next, as they came on after Hara Project. They are a marquis act, and it would have been difficult to get a seat if I hadn’t already been in position. The sun was just starting to go down, which made the fire a bit easier to see. Photographing fire is always tricky because the fire is so bright that if you expose for the fire, the people will be too dark, but if you expose for the people, the fire will appear white and blown out. So, I underexposed by a couple stops, knowing I could dodge the people a bit in post editing. Besides juggling with fire, one of the members did a glass ball juggling act which I really enjoyed. I was happy to be able to catch the reflection of his face in the ball in a couple of shots. https://fireshowjapan.com/
Finally, I caught Izuma the magician’s act in the waning light. She performs a beautiful, mostly non-verbal, artistic magic show. I’d seen her the year before, but last year’s performance had been in bright sun, so I wanted to try to catch her in softer, evening light. Unfortunatel, my camera was having trouble getting focus in the dark, but I still managed some nice shots that captured her gentle style. https://www.magic-izuma.com/
After that was the closing ceremony held in front of the main temple, where the Gold Dancers and others would perform again, but I decided to skip it and go home. This year, I also missed the Oiran Procession, where “courtesans” dressed in kimono with heavy headdresses and geta shoes are escorted around the streets of Osu. That’s always another great photo opportunity, but this year I decided to pace myself. Still, it was a fun day and entertaining day and I got in a few good shots, so I was satisfied. If you are visiting Nagoya in October, definitely try to catch it. There are more than forty performers at eighteen venues around Osu, many of them famous around Japan, and you can see them all up close and personal for free! But, be sure to bring some 1000 yen bills, or at least some 500 yen coins, to toss into their donation cans, as that is how most of them make their living!