盆踊りbon odori 33rd 2009-part 1

Every year, for the past 33 years, Bon Odori was shared with locals by Japanese. Introducing the culture through various means. Entrance and participation is free. We particularly enjoyed their sponsorship for this event.

In comparison to the celebrations in Japan, the festival is celebrated on a much smaller scale in Penang and Selangor, and is less associated with Buddhism and more with Japanese culture. Held mainly to expose locals to a part of Japanese culture, the festival provides the experience of a variety of Japanese food & drinks, art and dance.

Here, we try to document the event as it unfolds. We arrived at 6pm, after searching for a parking spot.

Then we went on to get the fan (complimentary).This year's fan was in blue.


Showtime was scheduled at 7:45pm, so we had some ice creams.
Japanese Ice-cream at $6/- :p

Near showtime, the T-shirts says it all.


Showtime with the dance and drums.
Three dances on stage. Stage is about 5 ft high with bars.