Oshio Lion Dancing Matsuri

The Oshio Lion Dancing Festival was on at the same time as the Nada Festival. We managed to be able to go to both of them luckily, as they are both quite near each other.

The Oshio Festival is all about the lion dancing. There are many lions dancing all at the same time with elementary school students playing music and setting the beat and the rhythm. It is such a great atmosphere. I really love the way the lions move during their dance. They look so cute and friendly and lively that while I was watching them, I forgot that there were people actually moving them inside. One person is at the front moving the lion’s head, while the other person is bent over at the back, being the lion’s body and two back legs.

While we were studying the lion mask, one of the Japanese men asked if we wanted to be kissed by the lion. Apparently, if you get kissed by a lion, it means you get good luck. So we all took turns in being kissed by the lion while the man was making funny noises in the meantime!


Then, I don’t know how I managed to do this, but I got to be right in the front of one of the lion shows.

I was so close, that I was scared of being hit by the lion’s head! I heard that it really hurts if you get hit by the lion, too! At the end of that performance, I got dragged into this massive group photo of all the performers and all the young students who were playing the music during the performance! Somehow, I felt like I was the token foreigner in the photo! It was fun, though!

I also saw some of my elementary school students because one of the schools I teach at is in the same district.

I was really excited to see them and they were all dressed up in their traditional costumes ready to perform in the festival. They looked so cute and they kept on saying how much they loved singing the “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” song the other day! These students were in sixth grade too, so I was pretty impressed that they liked it so much. Then I was testing them on all the body parts I taught them and they could remember all of them! I was so proud of them!

Just before we left the festival, we got to see Miss Himeji Castle.

She was so beautiful and was wearing a really nice outfit with her hair all perfect and make-up done nicely. We were lucky enough to get a photo with her too, so I felt really special!

It was a great weekend spending time at both of the festivals and I can’t wait till I get to go to another one!