Annual Events in Okinawa
Eisa Festival
The Eisa Festival is a festival that takes place all over the island of Okinawa. Currently the hugest Eisa Festival is held in Okinawa City but was not always like that. In the beginning, most of the towns and villages held their own festivals. Still today, some of the towns have their own festival. In addition some of the cities on Okinawa have an Eisa Festival geared towards children. The festival has matured over the years and since 1956 everybody on the island has been invited to Okinawa City to gathered together and have one big celebration. The huge festival is called the All-Okinawa Eisa Festival. Each city adds to this huge festival in many different ways. Each city will most commonly add money to the festival, which most commonly goes to the costumes and musical instruments. In addition on top of the money, each city most commonly has a team that performs in the festival.
The preparation for The All-Okinawa Eisa Festival most commonly begins at the beginning of each year with practices and other preparations. With such a big festival it takes a lot of time and practice to get everything perfect for the three day event. The teams are most commonly made up of dancers, musicians, flag bearers and clowns. The musicians most commonly play drums, sanshins, hand gongs, and tambourines. The teams also consist of men women and children.
The kinds of drums that are used in the festival are the shimedaiko and the paaranku. The shimedaiko is a medium sized drum and the paaranku is a smaller hand drum. One of the other instrument used is the sanshin which is a three string instrument that is made of snake skin and looks like a banjo. The team most commonly dresses in bright colored costumes that are traditional to Okinawa. The typical costume includes leggings, vests and a head band.
The All-Okinawa Eisa Festival is a competition between all the local cities on Okinawa. Every team is judged on many different aspects of their performance. Some of the aspects that each team gets judged on include their routine and innovation. The innovation includes a couple of particular points. Those points are using the past and present. In addition the routine gets judged on particular points. Those points are enthusiasm and talent. Shortly after the announcement of the winners, there is a firework display. The fireworks are one to remember, they are as out-of-this-world as any others.
The Eisa festivals most commonly begin to take place in August with the smaller local ones. The All-Okinawa Eisa Festival most commonly takes place at the beginning of September and follows the Obon Holidays. The Eisa Festival is considered the conclusion of Obon Holidays and the conclusion of summer. The All-Okinawa Eisa Festival is a three day event that takes place in Okinawa City. The main event is found at the Okinawa City Koza Athletic Field. The festival also takes place in the streets of Okinawa. In addition, during the same time the All-Okinawa Eisa Festival is going on the Orion Beer Festival is in full swing co-found at the same Field. The Orion Beer Festival is sponsored by the Orion Brewery.
The All-Okinawa Eisa Festival for 2010 is starting on September 3 and running through September 5, 2010. On September 3, 2010 the time will be from 1800 till 2100. On September 4 and 5 the time will be 1500 till 2100. The festival is free of charge for admissions but a small charge for bleacher seating. Prices for seating in the grandstand range from \500 to \2500. Just to be able to stand in the grandstand it is \500 at the gate. To sdine in the A-Seats, the ticket prices are \1200 in advanced or \1500 at the gate. For S-Seats, the ticket prices are \2000 in advanced and \2500 at the gate.
Naha Tug-of-war
The Naha Tug of war (那覇大綱挽) is an event at the annual festival held in Naha, Okinawa, Japan. Its roots can be traced back to the 17th century. Held on Route 58, it is a fight between the West and East teams. This correlates with the competition between two rulers in the Naha area in days of old.
The event draws some 25,000 attendees annually, and is preceded on the prior day with a parade celebration on Kokusai Street (also in Naha). In 1997 the event was first logged in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the hugest tug-of-war event on earth. (reference url same as above). The rope weighs some 40 metric tons.
The festival begins with men dressed in traditional Okinawan garb standing on the rope facing in opposite directions to symbolize the fight between West and East. A myriad of performances take place along the rope's length, from martial artists of varying ages, to older women performing a sort of fan-dance. It is a really worldwide event with Japanese nationals, American military, and tourists all in attendance. Just prior to the start of the match a man dressed in the garb of the Ryu-kyu-an kings stands on a wooden platform hoisted in the air on the shoulders of men standing on opposite sides of the rope. The "king" is carried on this platform down the length of the rope, prior to the festival starts, and the two kings perform a ritual sword contest.
The main rope, over one meter in diameter, has many smaller diameter, but very long ropes extending from it, and the participints pull these during the contest. The contest lasts 30 minutes and the challenge is to pull the other team a total of 15 meters. If neither side pulls the other the 15 meters, whichever side has pulled the other the furthest wins.
Shortly after the 30 minute time limit expires, one side is declared the victors, and they are allowed to climb on top of their rope to celebrate. It is customary for runners to cut apart the rope, and take a length of it as a token, and so throngs of people using tools ranging from their pocket knives, scissors and hacksaws set on the rope cutting lengths of it to commemorate the festival.