Unfortunately, the thumbnail photo here isn't quite accurate since this was taken during the fall of 2017 but it looks festive enough by Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. What I wanted to get across is that the summer festival season is most likely back in Japan considering that the Gion Festival of Kyoto returned in all of its glory last month and I saw the news report on the annual fireworks festival in Niigata Prefecture.
Mind you, this video uploaded by dodondo was apparently taken at some Wakayama Prefecture festival in late September some years back, but the important thing is that even in the early days of autumn, people can still enjoy a good matsuri. Of course, a festival means a lively dance to an ondo around the yagura stage. And the first song featured here is "Tozai Nanboku Ondo" (Traditional Folk Song of the East, West, South and North).
Recorded as a duet featuring Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）and Akemi Misawa（三沢あけみ）and consequently released in June 1967, "Tozai Nanboku Ondo" was created by lyricist Takao Saeki（佐伯孝夫）and composer Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）, two of Hashi's mentors in the music industry. With those taiko drums and shamisen in play, it would be more than enough for folks to stand up and get into that ring around the yagura.
According to J-Wiki, the song was recognized as Hashi's 90th single, and I also found out that the singer has had the second-highest number of duets with Misawa, next to his collaborations with actress/singer Sayuri Yoshinaga（吉永小百合）. In any case, for those KKP viewers in Japan, let me know if you have any local festivals coming up this month.
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