Malaysians throng Japanese Bon Odori dance festival, defy Muslim groups’ call to stay away

Many Malaysians, including hijab-wearing women, turned up in kimono to revel in the carnivallike atmosphere at a stadium in Shah Alam

Islamic authorities last month demanded the event be banned due to its ‘religious elements’ and the issue was resolved following Selangor state sultan’s intervention

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Malaysians and Japanese dance during the Bon Odori festival in Shah Alam, Selangor, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:05am, 17 Jul 2022Updated: 9:58pm, 17 Jul 2022

Thousands of Malaysians thronged a festival of Japan’s traditional summer Bon Odori dance on Saturday evening, defying conservative Islamists’ call for Muslims to stay away.

After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, many locals, including hijab-wearing Muslim women, turned up in kimono and “yukata”, or casual summer kimono, at a stadium in Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor state, which surrounds Kuala Lumpur.

The festival proceeded smoothly in a carnivallike atmosphere.

The Bon Odori dance festival has been held annually in the Muslim-majority country since 1977 without any issue, with the Japanese embassy in Kuala Lumpur and the Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur being involved as organisers.

But it was suddenly thrust into the spotlight last month when Islamic affairs minister Idris Ahmad advised Muslims to avoid the festival due to its “religious elements”.

Other Islamic authorities weighed in, saying the festival has links to ancestor-worship that could lead to polytheism.

Women clad in traditional Japanese yukata dance during the Bon Odori festival in Shah Alam. Photo: Reuters

It was the intervention from the Selangor state monarch, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, that cooled down the matter.

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