Kochi Yosakoi Information Exchange Center

Dedicated to the Yosakoi Festival, Kochi's signature summer event held each August when around 20,000 dancers from hundreds of teams fill the city streets. The center explains the history of the festival, which began in 1954 as a postwar community celebration, and displays the distinctive naruko clappers that dancers hold in both hands to beat rhythm as they move. Video footage of past festivals plays throughout, and the costumes and choreography of different team styles are covered in detail. It's a worthwhile stop for context before or after the August event itself, or as an introduction to one of Shikoku's most energetic cultural traditions.