Participation in the festival strengthens ties in the community The Shikoku Branch has decreased in size since that time, but the performance group has continued to participate in the Awa Odori every year. Besides dancing, the group's members also played various traditional musical instruments such as drums and the shamisen (a three-stringed instrument). At first, the group was made up of 40 to 50 employees working at the company's local Shikoku Branch as well as members of their families. With its long history in the area as a trader of locally made indigo-dyed products, Moriroku organized its own group to participate in the Awa Odori festival in 1960. Consequently, the festival was influenced by many local cultures, and performing arts became deeply rooted among the people of Tokushima. The traders who travelled the country to sell those products returned to Awa with various folk songs and dances they experienced in other regions.
In the early 1800s, the number of people participating in the festival increased as the Awa area's indigo-dyed goods grew famous across Japan. Local rulers at that time often prohibited the festival due to fears that the excitement it caused among the common people could lead to an uprising, but the lively event was too popular to stop. Local indigo-dyed goods traders popularized the festival over its historyĬountless people have enjoyed the Awa Odori dance festival since it first began around four centuries ago at the beginning of Japan's Edo period (1603 to 1868).
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