Chindon'ya

Chindon'ya (チンドン屋), also called Japanese marching band, and in the old times also called tōzaiya (東西屋) or hiromeya (広目屋 or 披露目屋) are a type of elaborately costumed street musicians in Japan that advertise for shops and other establishments.

The performers advertised the opening of new stores and other venues, or promoted special events such as price discounts.

Nowadays, chindon'yas are rare in Japan.

The word consists of Japanese sound symbolism chin and don to describe the instruments, and the -ya suffix which roughly equates to the English "-er" suffix in this context.

Street performers existed in Japan for a long time. However, the connection with advertising forming a chindon'ya first appeared in Osaka during the 19th century (Late Edo period and early Meiji period) at the beginning of industrialization.

Nowadays they are a rare sight in Japanese cities, and only 30-35 professional chindon'ya (puro no chindon'ya) still exist, mostly in and around Tokyo, with another 30 amateur and hobby chindon'ya (shirōto chindon'ya) performing at festivals. In recent years, however, there seems to be a very small increase again, as they can draw on their historic roots to evoke nostalgia.