Pop Japan

The city of Sapporo in Hokkaido Prefecture is known as the city of snow because it has been too near the Soviet Union that the climate of the place is actually colder than the other prefectures in Japan. This is why the city lavishly celebrates the coming of summer, when finally, the surroundings are not filled with snow anymore.

The Yosakoi Soran Festival is Sapporo's contribution to the hundreds of summer festivals in the Land of the Rising Sun. It employs dance competitions involving Japan's own mix of dance, the yosakoi. It is the creative keeping-up-with-time of the traditional Japanese natsu or summer street dances.

Photo by MIKI Yoshihito. Licensed under Creative Commons. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Tags: sapporo, hokkaido, soviet union, japan, yosakoi soran festival, yosakoi, land of the rising sun, traditional japanese dance, natsu dance, summer dance, summer festival