Japan's Awa Odori Dancing Festival Opens

TOKUSHIMA, JAPAN – AUG. 12: Dozens of men and women clad in yukata - informal version of Japan's kimono traditional wear - walk side by side in line performing unique but beautiful dances at Awa Odori dancing festival. The annual summer event started on Wednesday August 12 in Tokushima, on a western Japan main island of Shikoku. The dance is believed to date back to ancient days when they served the dances for the ancestry. The mid-August is the peak season for remembering the ancestry by visiting home prefectures and visit grave yards in Japan. At the festival, along with the loud sounds of drums and palm cymbals, female dancers keep their hands up at their heads' high while men keep their hips low during the march in the busiest corners of Tokushima. During the August 12-15 period, organizers expect over a million viewers from both inside and outside Japan.