Awa Dance in the postwar period had been refined due to the contents heldfor several years. The contest held for several years in the postwar periodcontributed to the refinement of Awa Dance. They also contributed to the birth of"reputed troops(yumei ren)" which belonged to the association. Many troops hasbeen formed with these troops as the top of hierarchy. Seeking ideal dancing, thereputed troops practiced night and day, contrived ways to find better formation andmovement and established the dance to show. on the other hand, students'groups had been seen as relieving stress and enjoying sense of solidarity instead ofshowingtheir skills of dancing.In 1987，the first``All-Nippon Interoollegiate Championship contents ofAwa Dance" was held and it had been continued for 11 yearss since then. Thisstudy deals with the background or prehistory of this contest and reasons why itceased to exist.The primary purpose for holding the intercollegiate contest was to enhanceAwa Dance cuuture. But it also functioned as a measure against the groups ofstudents who disturbed the spectators with too much excessive energy. Onenewspaper article showed this by quoting the words of a member of executivecommittee stating: it was organized to improve the image of students' groupswhich were frowned upon since many of the stuents danced under the influenceof alcohol.The reasons why the contest stopped 12 years after its start are: 1) itachieved the primary aim，2) it became stereotyped in a rut，and 3) due to budgetcurtailmeilt. In place of the collegiate contest,``Intercollegiate Awa DanceFestival" was newly organized by the students themselves. fu order to investigatehow the dances of the students' groups were performed，the dances of threes studentgroups which participated in the 2002 festival were videotaped and theirformations and movements were analyzed.As a result, their dances on the whole are found to be in no way inferior tothose of the reputed troops. The roles played by these contests and festivals arenoted to be very significant to raise the level of the students' dances as onenewspaper article says，``They all performed serious-minded student dance."
Hisako Nakamura : Gender and Awa Dance Movements, Journal of Human Sciences and Arts, Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokushima, Vol.8, 75-81, 2000.
In this study，the origin of the Awa Dance is examined by comparing the existingtheories. Books and articles concerning these theories have been collected and areexamined as summarized below.1) The theory ascribing the origin to Shoryo Odori，a religious event observed duringthe Obon period to comfort the spirits of the deceased. This has been supported bymany historians and folklorists.2)The theory ascribing the origin to the celebration for the construction of the newcastle. It states that，to celebrate the completion of the new castle，the first lord of theAwa Clan allowed townspeople of the precinct a free and easy night on which the dancewas first performed. This is a widely acknowledged theory，but historians deny it，considering the situations at that time in detail.3)The theory ascribing the origin to thanksgiving for harvesting crops. This theorysays that the dance is to express the gratitude of the common people living on cerealsfor successful crops， and that the dance imitates actions for driving away harmfulanimals. Opinions in a similar vein，however，have not been proposed.4) The theory ascribing the origin to Huryu Odori，popular around the end of theAge of Provincial Wars.This theory states that the forms and shapes of Bon Odoridescribed in Kasugasaiki (Festival Records of the Kasuga Shrine) and those of HuryuOdori described in Miyoshiki (Chronicle of the Miyoshi Clan) are quite similar，andconcludes that the Awa Dance originates from Huryu Odori. Although the forms andshapes of the dances described in Miyoshiki and Kasugasaiki are quite alike， BonOdori described in Kasugasaiki is classified as kumiodori，not zomeki，the type of thepresent Awa Dance. Therefore，Huryu Odori cannot be considered as the origin ofthe Awa Dance.5)The theory relating the origin to the spread along the Black (Japan) Current.This theory is based on the fact that many dances similar to the Awa Dance are foundin Okinawa，Amami and Kagoshima Prefecture and says that the Awa Dance originatesfrom the dances in fashion at the southern ports. But this theory itself was withdrawnby the theorist himself because of the differences of dancing rhythms. The southernrhythm is based on one beat， while the Awa Dance is based upon the so-called"Bon-ashi，" two beat rhythm.6)The theory ascribing the origin to "Eejanaika，" a movement near the end of theEdo Era. The fact that this movement also spread into Tokushima area and thesimilarities of dancing forms and shapes led to this idea，bu t it can hardly be supportedsince Bon Odori had been being performed in Tokushima area before the "Eejanaika"movement.In conclusion，the theory ascribing the origin to Shoryo Odori seems to be mostconvincing because the Awa Dance had been called Bon Odori till the end of WorldWar II. More detailed investigation is being planned as to the theory relating the originto the spread through the Black Current，especially about musical accompaniment andother similar dances. Regarding theories conceming Huryu Odori and Eejanaika, thesedances should have influenced the Awa Dance， but cannot be considered as being itsorigin. The theory relating the origin to the construction of the new castle is consideredimpossible as many historians point out. Similarly the theory ascribing the origin tothanksgiving for harvesting crops is also untenable.
The elective subjects system was introduced in the new course of study for physicaleducation in Japan. In junior and senior high school, dance was changed to an electivesubject from a required subject and, at the same time, the classes of mixed genderwere introduced. This kind of renovation of the course of study brought forward newproblems such as optionality and mixed learning in the field of dance education.Under this kind of situation, there is an urgent need to grasp the present state and thepoints at issue concerning dance lessons and to make some pertinent suggestions orproposals to improve dance education. The purpose of this study, therefore, is: 1) toinvestigate what kind of ideas the junior high school teachers in the Shikoku area haveabout teaching dance lessons including optionality and mixed-learning, 2) to clarify issuesrelated to teaching those lessons, 3) to compare the results with the results of nationwidesurvey and 4) to propose some suggestions to improve dance education in thearea.Method:1) Subjects; 336 junior high school teachers situated in 4 prefectures in the Shikokuarea.2) Response rate; 47. 2%.3) Time period; from October 15 to November 11, 1991.4) Procedure; mail questionnaire consisting of 68 items concerning gender, age， yearsof dance experience， major in university， ideas for dance， problems in teaching dance，specific points in teaching dance, elective subjects system, mixed learning, and so on.The results are as follows:1) Experience of learning dance in university greatly influences one's view of dance，view of teaching dance lessons， and teaching ability and tums out to be a motivatingforce toward the practice of teaching dance lessons. This result obtained in the Shikokuarea is similar to the tendency observed in the results of the nation-wide survey.2) Experience of teaching dance lessons is considered to forster one's view of teachingdance lessons and, at the same time， to become one's motivating force to the practiceof teaching dance lessons. But in the Shikoku area， fewer opportunities are givento female teachers than the average of the whole nation. The problem here is how tosecure opportunities for female teachers so that they can practice teaching dance lessons.3) According to the nation-wide survey, the emphasis is placed upon improving one'spractical skills in the content of university dance education and it is pointed out thatnot only practical dancing skills， but also practical ability in creating dance should beimproved. This is also applicable to the Shikoku area. University curriculum and thecontent of short-term courses for in-service teachers should be renovated to put emphasison teaching method, and the renovation is especially required in the Shikoku area.4) Difference between male and female teachers conceming the experience of learningdance and the practice of teaching dance lessons is quite obvious on a nation-widescale. As one of the ways to extend and enrich the practice of teaching dance lessons,more opportunities of learning dance should definitely be given to the male teachers.
There exist many folk dances which have been inherited from one generation to another inTokushima. More than 50 folk dances were recorded in the study undertaken in 1966. But many ofthem were not well-known even within the prefecture，let alone outside of the prefecture. Only theAwa Dance enjoys its fame as a dance representing the prefecture. In comparison with the other folkdance in Tokushima，the Awa Dance became popoular in the post-war-period. The main purpose ofthe present study is to investigate the factors that led the Awa Dance to represent the prefecture.The articles related to the Awa Dance that appeared in the Tokushima Newspaper from 1946 through1955 were sorted into a chronological table covering administrative，economic and popular efforts topromote it. They were then examined togather with the references concerning the Awa Dance.The results are summarized as the following:1) Because of the paucity of sightseeing resources in the prefecture，the Awa Dance was chosen toappeal to people outside the prefecture. (The Awa dance was not really supported as a cultural event.)2) In order to recruit many participants in dancing，the administrative and the economic bodiesprepared championship flags，certificates of commendation，prize money，etc and held contents so thatpeople good at dancing and fond of it could compete one another.3) As a result，the dancing itself became refined and fit for appreciation，ultimately increasing thenumber of visitors.4) Positive economic support was given from the administrative and the economic bodies making itpossible not to depend upon donations from town associations and Buddhism parishes.5) The development of the Awa dance，which now shows a great deal of variations，is not only dueto the efforts of people dancing and supporting it but also due to the unique characteristics of thedancing itself，which are not found in other folk dances in Japan.
Hisako Nakamura : Gender and Awa Dance Movements, The Congress of International Association of Physical Education and Recreation for Girls and Women, Northampton, Massachusetts, Jul. 1999.