The Awa Odori in Tokushima

Bon-odori, a mystical congratulatory ceremony, reflects a Japan that has honored its ancestors since time immemorial. The writer Wenceslau de Moraes, a resident of Tokushima since 1913, explores the city, the countryside, the surrounding villages, and their cemeteries, to encounter the past and the history of ancestral Japanese culture. Bon-odori is a Buddhist term, adapted for a ceremony where the three guiding principles of Japanese culture meet – Buddhism, Shintoism, and ancestor worship. The traditional Japan of the early 20th century described in the words of the Portuguese man who lived and wrote the most about this country.

Publisher: Livros de Bordo

Edition: 2018

Author: Wenceslau de Moraes