This research focuses on the song of bon dance festival mainly performed at the Tsuda district, which is situated at the east coast of Tokushima City in Shikoku Island. The bon dance had been called "Boni-odori" where people voluntarily made groups of several to dozens, and marched throughout the district while dancing along to festival music in a bouncing simple 2-beat rhythm called "Zomeki". Although this music had been played mainly with shamisen (Japanese traditional 3-string guitar-like instrument), other instruments had been used such as Japanese drums, bamboo flutes, and ash tray-shaped metal chimes. The song was called "Yoshikono", which incorporated and altered the lyrics of popular songs of the latter half of Edo period. People walked while bouncing their bodies and waving both hands along to "Zomeki", but dancing style was flexible. Costume was also flexible, and people wore daily clothing or summer kimono. A few men dressed up as women, and vice versa. "Boni-odori" was thus of high flexibility and creativity. "Boni-odori" faded away in the middle of the 1960s, but was revived in 1981, with the foundation of "Tsuda no Boni-odori Preservation Group". Based on the song of approximately 100 verses, which were still sung among some elderly people in Tsuda district, the group started to revive the local dance tradition. The group holds dance performances not only during the bon season in August, but in local events throughout the year. "Tsuda no Boni-odori" has been designated as intangible folk cultural asset by Tokushima prefecture.
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the function of the song of "Boni-odori", to examine why it could survive despite the fading away of "Boni-odori" tradition in the 1960s, and to analyze the current function and issues pertaining to the song in bon dance performances held by the "Tsuda no ‘Boni-odori’ Preservation Group". This research is a comparative study on the songs of "Tsuda no Boni-odori"" and "Awa-odori", which is a bon dance that spread in the central area of Tokushima City and evolved into the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.2 million visitors per year. The reason to adopt the comparative analysis is as follows: Although "Tsuda no Boni-odori" is believed to have the same root as "Awa-odori", and shares the same rhythm of "Zomeki" and the same song of "Yoshikono", there are major differences in the songs. Moreover, while the verse variations are spontaneously selected on the spot and sung during the dance performance of "Tsuda no Boni odori", "Awa-odori" rarely involves singing. Therefore, the comparitive analysis is useful to highlight the distinctive features of the song in "Tsuda no Boni-odori".
As a result, the following findings were obtained:
(1) In "Boni-odori", people simultaneously sang and danced without any role separation between singers and dancers. The tune of the song was developed to harmonize with the dance movements. Therefore the song provides the characteristic bouncing rhythm and cheers up the dancers. People could dance along to the song even when no instruments were available. The verses express the subtleties of human interactions in the common people’s life. Many of the verses are full of wit using rhetoric such as double-meaning in words and antithesis. Therefore the song was an integral part of bon festival performance in "Boni-odori", where people shared the rhythm and sentiments that the song provided.
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