Awa Dance Festival and Shodoshima 2 Days Bus Tour from Osaka

A "ceramic board masterpiece museum" established by the Otsuka Group to commemorate their 75th anniversary. It contains the largest permanent exhibition space in Japan (29,412 square meters).

(Free time activity.) ※ Please arrange your dinner. There are also many festival food stalls available.

The Awa Dance Festival (Awa Odori) is the country's largest dance festival as part of the Obon festival in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Dancers and musicians known as ren parade through the streets accompanied by traditional instruments, wearing obon dance costumes and chanting. "Awa" refers to the old name of Tokushima Prefecture, and "odori" means "dance". "Odoru aho ni miru aho, onaji aho nara odoranya sonson" (A fool watches a fool dancing, If they're both fools, let's dance). It's the lyrics sung by the dancers during the festival. ※The spectator seats will be S-class seats. ※Feel free to enjoy dinner during your free time in Tokushima City before the event starts, where numerous food stalls will be available at the venue.

The world-famous Awa Dance can be viewed all year round at this dance hall. The first floor is home to an information desk and shop area for local products and tourist information. On the second floor is the Awa Dance library and an exhibition hall. The third floor is home to a museum.

Shodoshima is the second-largest island in the Seto Inland Sea, an area of 170 ㎢. The island is known as the Mediterranean of Japan, both for its year-round temperate climate and as the birthplace of olive production in the country. Traditional food production, such as soy sauce slowly fermented in wooden barrels or sun-dried somen noodles, continues to thrive after 400 years.

Art work : "Shodoshima again...", "Gift of the Sun"

Around 2,000 olive trees and over 130 different varieties of herbs are grown throughout the spacious grounds. Here is also famous as the setting of the animated movie, "Kiki's Delivery Service". You can borrow a magic broomstick for free from the Olive Memorial Hall, and the park is full of people having fun taking pictures of themselves riding broomsticks just like Kiki.

The building is in the traditional Japanese ‘gasshozukuri’, and is registered as a national tangible cultural heritage. Inside, there is explanation of the history of soy sauce and the traditional ways of producing it.There is a huge wooden barrel that was actually used in soy sauce production.

Art work : "Umaki Camp", "Regent in olives"