Bon Dance Panel 7 - Iwakuni Ondo, a Case Study

Of the many bon dance songs used in Hawai’i, there are songs that remained while others disappeared over the years as the times changed. What were the factors that caused the songs to remain or disappear?

Iwakuni Ondo is one of the three bon dance music genres that remain in Hawai’i. It is performed live with the singer on the yagura tower holding up an umbrella and singing a song having seven-and-five syllables. Many of the songs expressed the passionate emotions of the Japanese people. The songs included Japanese historical episodes and war stories such as Nikudan Sanyushi (Three Human Bullets 肉弾三勇士, about three heroic Japanese soldiers who sacrificed themselves while blowing up enemy lines in Shanghai in 1932) or Sakuma Taii Monogatari (Sakuma Teicho 佐久間艇長 or 佐久間大尉物語 about Tsutomu Sakuma, the brave commander who died when his submarine that sank off Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1910). Such songs are still popular in Hawai’i today and the yonsei and gosei have learned the story even if they don't understand Japanese. A taiko drummer at the bottom of the yagura accompanies the singer and sets the beat. The dancers dance clockwise, spinning their arms elegantly.

Most immigrants from Yamaguchi Prefecture came from specific regions so they had a strong hometown affinity among themselves. From the early 1900s, they formed hometown associations according to their village or town. These associations were later unified by the Yamaguchi Prefecture Kenjinkai Association formed in 1926. To reinforce their hometown unity, they held picnics, movie screenings, concerts, stage performances, and bon dances.

After the war, new Iwakuni Ondo songs were created. They were about Hawai’i. One song called "Nisei Soldiers" (ああ第442部隊) was about the 442nd RCT composed by Mune Ozaki to memorialize them. This song was often sung during the nisei's heyday in Hawai’i.

Panel photos: Top is James Kunichika singing Iwakuni Ondo on the yagura at a bon dance in 2001. Bottom photo is dancers dancing to the Iwakuni Ondo at a bon dance.