Even though firearms had been introduced in Japan from China as early as the 13th century, these were rather primitive and pretty impractical on the battlefield as they consisted of nothing more than a metal tube that was either mounted or hand-held. It took the arrival of the Portuguese in 1543, the first Europeans ever to land in Japan, to bring a significant improvement to these weapons. This technological change would trigger radical changes in the way warfare was conducted and it can be argued that the whole history of Japan was changed because of the advantage that these new weapons provided to those who equipped their armed forces with them. This led the way to firearms frenzy and the development of a whole range of techniques, formalised within the discipline of Hojustu in order to improve their effectiveness.

The Tokyo Koenji Awaodori is one of the largest Awaodori summer dance festivals and it is usually held on the last Saturday and Sunday of the month of August. Each year, almost 200 groups (ren, 連) gathering over 10,000 dancers perform in the streets of Koenji the traditional Awa dance to the sound of flutes, drums and bells. The performers travel through nine routes departing from Koenji JR Train Station.