Eisa Festival in my neighbourhood

20:56

Eisa festival in Nakadomari

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to see the Eisa festival in my neighbourhood! Usually my neighbourhood is very sleepy and quiet. You don't see too many people about except first thing in the morning and the afternoon when all the old people are out doing their Rajio Taiso (radio calisthenics) and playing gate ball (kind of like croquet).

I was really surprised when, while we were cooking dinner, there was lots of drumming and music I could hear coming from nearby, so I took the puppy out for a walk to see what was going on. I came across a festival of a couple of hundred people watching a big group of Eisa performers dancing and drumming to a live band! The atmosphere was absolutely amazing, and I think it was the best thing i've seen since living here in Okinawa. There were so many people there; kids in yukata and families sitting around drinking or dancing to the music. As soon as I arrived a bunch of kids ran up to me and spent the whole time patting the dog.

Unfortunately I only had my iPhone with me, so the photos below aren't amazing. I've also included a video at the bottom of a bit of the performance.


Nakadomari Eisa
This flag says "Nakadomari", which is the name of my neighbourhood.




Ollie was a hit with the kids



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2 comments

  1. Fun Flying Four 2 September 2016 at 01:55

    I love Eisa and I am sad that we have always been off island for oban...hopefully next year we will be here!

    When we were house sitting at your place I could hear them practicing in the evening!

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  2. Unknown4 October 2016 at 23:51

    What fun! We had some who would practice around the corner and we would walk the pups over to watch them. Just like Hannah I somehow always miss the huge festival! It's our last chance next year, so I hope I don't miss it. The kids are so cute

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