A city made by its people. People and nature together in harmony. A city of cultural exchange.

When talking about summer in Gujo, the "Gujo Odori" has to be mentioned. The Gujo Odori is a traditional Gujo summer dance that began about 400 years ago during the early of the Edo period. The dance begins on the same night as the Gion Festival in Kyoto and continues for 30 nights. It begins at the Yasaka Shrine (same one that is in Kyoto) and each night it shifts location to a different shrine. The Gujo Odori Preservation Society tell musical stories through an "Ohayashi" which consists of a soloist, a shamisen, a Japanese drum and a Japanese flute.

The listeners participate by encircling the musician's stage and engaging in interesting, easy to learn dance. During "Urabon" (August 13th to 16th) the dance continues all night until 5am! It's a must see. Please join us if you can, but, be warned, more than 20 thousand visitors descend on Gujo for this event so the traffic is a bit chaotic. So plan early. Also, Shirotori town has a traditional summer dance called "Shirotori Odori". The more up-tempo rhythms of this dance make it more appealing to young people.