Surprised This Morning
The plan for the day was for three of us to visit a shrine in Yomitan.
That's where the Godfather of Okinawa Sanshin music resides these days.
They hold a big Sanshin shindig in front of the guy's grave, every year on the 4th of March.
That's Sanshin no Hi and, we were supposed to meet up at that event.
One of these lovely ladies has a son-in-law in the USA.
He contacted me and, let me know she'd be performing at Kin Kannon-ji.
That's like a whole two minute walk from my office so, I changed my plans and went there.
The musicians pay their respects with prayer before the entertainment begins.
People from some news crew stick cameras and microphones in the scene.
Sometimes, I wish, they'd make a law, outlawing stuff like that. Groan
Where this instrument was played for royalty, years ago, things have changed these days.
Lots of, everyday working class people in Okinawa, strum the sanshin.
Some folks, off to the side of the temple, played their instruments in the dirt.
Maybe, that's because there wasn't enough room on the stage.
The real professional players were all dressed up and knelt on the carpeted stage.
They played the sanshin, koto (Japanese harp) and drums.
Traditional Okinawan dance was performed on the red carpeted stage.
It was a quick and easy photography day and, I got back to the office early.
So, I thought it would be nice to find some YouTube music videos.
Here's one for the Okinawa Sanshin:
Listen to the Japanese Harp (Koto) as well:
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