BODY: If you grew up watching anime in Japan decades ago, you probably remember that nearly every hit series came with its own "ondo" — a bouncy, festival-style folk-dance song bearing the show's name. Now one nostalgic blogger on Japan's anonymous diary platform Hatelabo is asking the obvious question: where did they all go?
The ondo is a traditional Japanese musical form, the kind of call-and-response tune played at summer Bon Odori dances, where crowds circle a raised platform in yukata and move in unison. For much of the Showa era (1926–1989), tying an anime to an ondo was standard practice — a "Doraemon Ondo" or "Obake no Q-Taro Ondo" could get kids dancing at neighborhood festivals all summer long.
The blogger's pitch is simple: bring them back. Imagine a "Demon Slayer Ondo," they write, arguing that international fans in particular would eat it up. A "Detective Conan Ondo" could work too, they suggest, along with a "Pokémon Ondo" or a "Lupin the Third Ondo." (In fairness, Pokémon does have an ondo — proof the tradition never fully died, just faded from the spotlight.)
It's a small observation that opens onto a bigger cultural shift. Modern anime marketing leans on J-pop and rock tie-ins from chart-topping artists, streaming-friendly openings built for global playlists — not communal dance numbers meant for a specific hometown festival.
The insider take
Here in Tokyo, the ondo hasn't vanished so much as gone underground. Walk through any neighborhood matsuri in August and you'll still hear the "Tokyo Ondo" and "Doraemon Ondo" crackling over the loudspeakers — these songs are cultural infrastructure, not nostalgia. The reason new anime skip them is economic: a globalized franchise sells soundtracks worldwide, and a folk-dance number rooted in Bon Odori doesn't stream the same way overseas. Yet the blogger may be onto something. With foreign fans increasingly hungry for "authentic" Japan, a "Demon Slayer Ondo" dropping right before Obon season could be exactly the kind of viral, participatory moment the algorithm can't manufacture.
Originally reported by はてなブックマーク (Japanese).