Shiraishi-jima

photo by At by At · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by 皓月旗 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Thirteen dances in thirteen costumes, all to the same music, on the sand in mid-August.

Every night from 13 to 16 August, on the square in front of the community centre and on the island's beach, dancers in thirteen different costumes (men's dance, hat dance, servants' dance, rifle dance and nine others) dance together to the same music but each with their own choreography, with no one directing the whole: a way of staying true to themselves that has no declared equivalent elsewhere in Japan. On Saturday evenings from mid-July to early August the same dance (白石踊, Shiraishi Odori) is repeated in a version for tourists on the sand of the main beach.

It can be reached in about 22 minutes by hydrofoil from Kasaoka port. It is the second-largest island in the Kasaoka archipelago and a national Place of Scenic Beauty (名勝). The Shiraishi Odori dance, which tradition traces back to a rite of consolation for those who fell in the Genpei War (12th century), is a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

ℹ️ The island is always accessible by ferry/hydrofoil from Kasaoka, with the shipping service's own timetables to check before departure. Nishi-no-ura Beach, 500 metres of sand, open for swimming in July–August, with ryokan and minshuku (family-run guesthouses) along the shore.

🚉 白石島 · 12 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · kasaoka-kankou.jp

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