Record heat waves and “hottest ever” temperatures be dammed I thought as I had an opportunity to go to a summer festival on Sado island in a northern prefecture- Niigata, Japan.
At its heart, the Earth Celebration features the talents of an outstanding local taiko drums and traditional performance group called KODO I had hear so much about and inspired me to make the long journey there.
In Japanese, the word “Kodo” holds a double meaning. It can be translated as “heartbeat,” the primal source of all rhythm. Indeed, the great taiko is thought to be reminiscent of a mother’s heartbeat as felt from the womb, and babies are often lulled to sleep by its thunderous vibrations. If read in a different context however, Kodo can also mean “children of the drum,” which reflects the group’s desire to play the drums with the simple heart of a child. — Kodo.or.jp website
This was the 35th of the 3-day Sado Earth Celebration festivals — it’s history dating back to the 80’s. Each festival attracts thousands of festival goers both local and visitors from the mainland to come to the butterfly shaped island. The festival main and fringe stages as well as markets are all centered around the small port town of Ogi.
I took ten days off of work and did the long slow drive from Hiroshima to Niigata in my Electric Car (EV) charging every 200–300 kilometers to make the 1000 km journey there over 2 days. It cost me about the same as it would have to take a train or fly and it seemed perfect to have an emission free vehicle to use at the Earth Celebration. It was great to see that it was quite easy to travel across Japan in an EV.
The main attractions are the taiko drumming, music and dance performances, but the market stalls, parades alongside local matsuri and Sado island’ sightseeing add to the appeal. The fringe performances are free to watch and take photos and video of, but you do need tickets for the evening performances and photos and video are not allowed.
While wandering along with the taiko parade, I met talented French photographer Vero Martin who was taking pictures with a vintage Rolleiflex and was so impressed by how well Vero captured the atmosphere of the event and emotions of the people so well. Vero spent a month on the island captivated by the island culture and energy of its festivals and people.
Before and after the event this year, I had the chance to talk with organizer Yui Kamiya. The pre-event talk was helpful in planning my trip and a chance to help promote the event which was coming back in full force after 4 years.
In the post talk we went over some of the amazing performances and my insights as a festival-goer such as my engagement with wonderful local people and interesting vendors. Yui added insights from the organizational side including some of the difficulties of holding an event during the hottest summer on record and some of the greatest achievements that played out so well in addition to points of improvement for future EC’s.
It’s amazing how easily it is to fall off of people’s radar if you stop holding events for a couple of years- they were pleased with the turnout and atmosphere but still had less people attending this year than they had hoped.
We are in a reality now where we are bombarded with so much information every day online and on our social media feeds but most of it is sponsored or controlled by algorithms. The idea is to give us more of what we want, but in reality it keeps new things and less sponsored things out of our feeds which often leaves out things like this that we are actually interested in.
I hope you will bookmark the Earth Celebration website & follow the org on social media: YouTube, Instagram, Twitter/X and Facebook so you don’t miss out!
As someone passionate about sustainability, there was a lot to love. The foundation of the EC is sustainable in how it brings people to the island as visitors but also appeals to new residents to settle there because of the annual event.
While many rural (especially island) areas across Japan are struggling to fill the empty houses with people who want to be a part of the community, having an annual festival is a great strategy for rural revival- one of the key targets for a more sustainable Japan.
The festival is an emotional boost for local people — many of the welcoming locals I had a chance to chat with encouraged me to “tell the world about EC and bring your family and friends to visit us”. Many of the local vendors, even those who came across from Niigata city, said the sales during the EC festival help to keep them afloat for the rest of the year.
Additionally, promoting local culture and traditions is a main feature of the festival — creative dance, arts and performances that help us feel alive and are so valuable to preserve for future generations.
The festival area was also easily walkable, there were water fountains in little parks to refill bottles, and there were some plantbased food options. The first cup I was given I thought of as my festival cup and kept washing and asking vendors to reuse.
It would be great to see more people reusing cups and refilling water bottles to hydrate while reducing waste. The Earth Celebration stall sold stylish water bottles in their merch lineup and Yui said adding more refill and reuse opportunities is a future goal of EC.
The collaboration between the local KODO taiko drumming performance group, Taiko groups domestic and international, and various musicians, artists and other performers was exciting to see.
At the evening concerts, it was wonderful to see all the talented KODO performers on the first night, and then great to see the creative collaborations with talented Japanese artists Shuta Hasunuma and Manami Kakudo on the second.
I was captivated by the creative expression and atmospheric vibes of Manami Kakudo on stage with the KODO performers. Click on the video below to get a sense of her ethereal, experimental and creative style from her Fuji Rock performance in 2019.
The final night’s concert featured the Voices of South Africa- a collaboration across very different genres of musical styles that was wonderful to see. The groups have collaborated in Belgium but this was the first time for them to perform together in Japan and a performance many organizers had been working hard to make happen for over 4 years.
For many of us, it was the fringe performances that really stood out. A wonderful chance to engage with local people, friendly vendors, visitors from Japan as well as visitors from around the world who had made the long pilgrimage to Sado island to attend the event.
As we were waiting for the evening concert to start, I talked with a French mother and her daughters who were so excited to finally be a part of the festival after they had seen KODO perform in Europe many years ago.
I also talked with visitors from Tokyo and other parts of Japan who had made the pilgrimage to Sado island to be a part of the festival and explore the beauty of butterfly island.
Looking around at the smiles of people watching a Kodo performance, like the Ogi town parade above, gives you a sense of the excitement everyone was feeling as we shared the moment with the KODO performers who spend the year practicing, preparing and planning for Earth Celebration.
Hope to see you there next year!
