Yosakoi/Souran Bushi

I'm doing a little study on the dance. Mainly searching around. It seems that Yosakoi in general was founded in Shikoku, while the typical fisherman's dances of Souran Bushi come from Hokkaido and are in someways a subset of Yosakoi. Both of these traditions being fairly recent within the past 60 years or so.

I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of the subjects or recommended any sources, books or sites. I'm mainly trying to get a basic understanding of the history of the dances and how they connect.

A few sites and examples so far.

Sendai Yosakoi Festival

Soran Bushi


Extra Links
Yosakoi - Wikipedia
Yosakoi Festival Home Page (en)
http://www.komuso.com/pieces/Soran_Bushi.html

they say Yahren soran (エイヤーレン ヤーレン ソーラン) is not Japanese
most old folk song's yells are not Japanese

テレビ東京 : 新説！？みのもんたの日本ミステリー！〜失われた真実に迫る〜 : 2006年12月6日夜9時00分〜10時48分

http://www.yosanet.com/yosakoi/history/outline.php
it was started in 1990 by a college student..
now, in Brazil..
http://www.nikkeyshimbun.com.br/040616-62colonia.html

Thanks. It will take a bit of time to read through those at my Japanese level. I'm a bit confused by what you're saying about it not being Japanese.

My main focus is Soran Bushi and how it fits under Yosakoi and it's history.

Souran-bushi and Yosakoi are traditionally totally different dances of different origins (Hokkaido and Shikoku).

According to caster51's links, it was in 1991 that a college student from Hokkaido saw the "traditional" Yosakoi dance in Shikoku for the first time and wanted to bring back the dance to Hokkaido, because of the vibrant energy and dynamism he felt there. That's how the modern YOSAKOI (a mix between traditional Yosakoi and traditional Soran-bushi of Hokkaido) came into being.

To sum up, it has become a fashionable dance among youths who want to dance and parade through the streets in unique attires in summer. You see a lot of these YOSAKOI parades and contests all over, including our neighborhood!

Okinawa's Eisaa dance spread to the rest of Japan for the same reason. My kids had to learn the Eisaa at school here in Tokyo!

Thanks as always Epigene. Much appreciated. I had expected to find something in English fairly easily, but it seems I can find next to nothing on the history of Soran Bushi in English! Heck even Wikipedia has zip.

Thanks again to caster for posting the links as well. That is the sort of history I was looking for, now to just find more.

Thanks for all your post, I have the same problem and now it has been sorted!