Quick Okinawa Info
Traditional Events |
Updated on : March 31, 2005 |
Okinawa's traditional ceremonies and festivals have many distinctive features
Most festivals and traditional events in Okinawa are scheduled according to the lunar calendar. The lunar calendar is based on the phases of the moon. The fishing and farming folk who lived close to nature not only scheduled special events according to the lunar calendar; they regulated everyday life itself by the moon as well. For this reason, the calendar in most Okinawan households will show the months and days according to the Gregorian and lunar calendar, the times of sunrise and sunset as well as the ebb and flow of the tide.
Okinawa's traditional events like Eisa dancing and Hari dragon-boat races are held throughout the islands and these events are well known all over Japan. Some communities in Okinawa have their own special local Eisa and Hari events, passed down through the generations, and the dates of these will vary somewhat.
Ceremonies including Muchi, when prayers are offered for the health of children, and Shimi observances, when ancestors are remembered in prayer, are held within the family unit throughout the islands. Others, like the Napai of Gusukube Town, held to seek protection against tidal waves, and Yaeyama's harvest festival Shichi are local affairs.
There are big festivals that involve an entire island. Many areas around the prefecture have festivals related to harvest, but Tarama Island’s Hachigatsu Odori and Taketomi Island’s Tanadui-sai attracts many tourists each year. These events have been designated as Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties by the national government.
Okinawans cherish and keep up their precious special events. Unfortunately, due to depopulation, some of these island ceremonies are dying out. On Kudaka Island, a place known locally as the "island of the gods," the Izaiho rite, supposed to be held only every 12 years during the year of the horse, has been defunct since 1978. This ritual hasn't been held due to a decline in the number of women inheriting the role of priestesses.
People on the islands trust their ancestral spirits to protect everyone from illness and calamities as well as to provide them bountiful harvest from both land and sea. Traditional events on the islands will continue to live because they are the people’s means to show their overflowing gratitude and appreciation.
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