r/neverchangejapan

One of the most famous lines heard during Awa Odori is:

踊る阿呆に見る阿呆

同じ阿呆なら踊らにゃ損々

Odoru ahou ni miru ahou.

Onaji ahou nara odoranya son son.

A natural translation would be:

“The dancers are fools, and the watchers are fools. If we’re all fools anyway, you’re missing out if you don’t dance.”

阿呆 means “fool,” but here it is playful, not insulting.

踊らにゃ is a casual way of saying “if you don’t dance.”

損 means a loss or waste, so 踊らにゃ損 feels like “not dancing would be a waste.”

Awa Odori is held in Tokushima every August and has more than 400 years of history. I love how this chant captures the spirit of the festival: stop worrying about how you look and join in.

Would you dance or stay in the crowd?