[FURUSATO GUJO TV] Gujo dance festival

Here is the video ”Gujo dance festival", which was provided by Gujo City, Gifu Prefecture.

Gujo dance festival started over 400 years ago. Now it's known as one of the largest summer dance festivals in Japan in which the locals and tourists dance together in a big circle.
The festival is held for a period of about thirty nights from the mid-July to the beginning of September. During the four days of Obon (August 13 through 16, commemorating one's ancestor), dances continue through the night until the morning.

In the Edo period, the feudal lord gathered all the people from the four different classes: Warriors, Farmers, Artisans and Tradesmen (in descending order of rank). He permitted them to intermingle with each others in order to dance during Obon. Since then, the dance festival became popular over time and it became what is known now as Gujo dance.

*The video is reprinted with permission from Gujo City, Gifu Prefecture.