"They Only Filmed the Body, Not the Dance": Japan's Major Festival Stained by "Uncomfortable Cameras" Amid Over 1 Million Visitors Every Year

Videos Highlighting Backs and Bodies of Female Dancers Spread on Social Media
Practice Clip of Female Dancer Viewed Over 1 Million Times
Troupes Struggle to Address Costumes and Outfit Concerns

The summer festival "Awa Odori," representing Tokushima Prefecture in Japan, opened on the 11th, but controversy has arisen as videos highlighting specific body parts of female dancers have been repeatedly posted on social media platforms.

On the 10th, Japanese media outlets such as Yomiuri Shimbun and TV Asahi reported that several videos focusing on the backs or body parts of female Awa Odori dancers had recently been found on TikTok and Instagram.

According to Yomiuri Shimbun's verification of the problematic account, most of the posts were videos of Awa Odori, and the subjects of the recordings were also mainly female dancers. SNS

A 32-year-old woman, Ms. A, who is an Awa Odori dancer, belatedly learned that last summer, a video of her practicing had been uploaded to TikTok. In the video, the outline of her underwear was visible through her practice clothes, drawing attention. The video was played more than 1 million times, and most of the comments focused not on her dance but on her appearance and body. Ms. A expressed that she felt "sad and uncomfortable" about the situation. Since then, she has been wearing dark-colored practice outfits to prevent her underwear from showing and often layers her clothes despite the hot weather. She said, "There are more and more things I have to watch out for every year."

According to Yomiuri Shimbun’s verification of the problematic account, most of the posts consisted of Awa Odori videos, with the subjects also mainly being female dancers. The newspaper contacted the account owner to ask about the purpose and details of the filming, but did not receive a response. It was also reported that, besides this account, several others have posted similar videos highlighting the backs or certain body parts of female dancers on TikTok and Instagram.

A renowned dance troupe, Ahoren, which has about 150 dancers, stated that such videos have noticeably increased in recent years. Machi Tachikawa, the leader of Ahoren, said, "Unlike ordinary dance videos, there are more cases of videos designed to attract sexual attention in order to raise view counts," and added, "I have personally warned people who were filming inappropriate videos."

The summer festival "Awa Odori," representing Tokushima Prefecture in Japan, opened on the 11th. However, controversy has arisen as videos highlighting specific body parts of female dancers have been repeatedly posted on social media platforms. The photo is not related to any specific content of the article. Photo by AP Yonhap News.

One female dancer with Ahoren expressed concern, stating, "If this continues, there may be young people who feel they no longer want to dance."

The troupe has advised dancers to wear loose-fitting practice outfits that do not reveal their figures. For the main performance, measures have also been taken, such as using pins to keep the yukata worn by women from opening in the wind.

The organizers are also receiving reports of such incidents from various troupes and, starting this year, are requesting that visitors observe proper filming etiquette through their official website and other channels. For particularly malicious cases, they are considering consulting with the police. Executive committee chairman Koji Shono emphasized, "We want everyone to enjoy Awa Odori freely, but above all, it’s most important to ensure a safe and secure environment for the dancers."

Previously in Japan, a law was enacted in 2023 that allows punishment for filming sexual body parts or underwear without consent. However, Sakura Kamitani, an attorney specializing in support for crime victims, pointed out, "It can be difficult to judge whether the purpose of filming is sexual or simply ordinary," and added, "The organizers need to thoroughly inform the public about proper conduct and limit malicious filming to create an environment in which filming with sexual intent is not possible."

Meanwhile, Awa Odori is Tokushima’s representative traditional group dance, continuing for more than 400 years. "Awa" is the old name for Tokushima, and "Odori" means dance. Every year, the festival attracts over 1 million visitors from Japan and abroad as one of Japan’s leading summer festivals, and the official schedule for this year runs from August 11th to 15th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.