A Favorite Photo From The Harvest Moon Festival

 Moon Covered by Rain Clouds

It's been 4 years since the Kangetsusai (Moon Viewing Festival) was held in Kin Town.

Rain wouldn't stop the show from going on!

15 Harvest Moon Festival Photos

Plus the September 2018  Full Moon

It's not really called a Harvest Moon Festival in Okinawa, Japan.

Kangetsusai is what the festive event is named in this part of the world.

Tropical storms bouncing around the Asian oceans could have canceled this celebration.

A few hours ahead of time, I slipped out of the house to get my camera and lenses.

There was a good chance rain would hit on and off over the next few hours.

Accidentally, I left my iPhone at home in the charger so, nobody could contact me.

If it started pouring down rain, the wife would demand I get back in the house. Hah!

The first few performances on stage went smoothly and things were dry.

You can see the crowd sitting before the stage, watching some sort of royal dances.

The way lighting is set up on the stage makes photography challenging.

It's nice to get images of everybody but, zooming in on a few makes things easier.

Usually, I don't intentionally miss anyone, unless they are really ugly.

Just kidding. We can't say stuff like that anymore. Or, can we?

Look closely at this scene and, you may notice the angle of my camera has changed.

The red lantern in the center of the frame was overhead in my first few photos.

Climbing a flight of stairs, I found a balcony where I could stay dry if it rained.

All the kids doing Eisa had to be photographed so, I wouldn't miss someone special.

My granddaughter is up there dancing. She's not one of the ugly ones.

No expert on the performing arts, I just call these dudes, cupcake dancers.

That's because we aren't supposed to call folks fruitcakes anymore. Hah!

These ladies in green kimonos were easy on the eyes and, the stage was still dry.

People sitting on folding chairs in the audience didn't need umbrellas, yet.

One of these days I should learn the names of all the classic Okinawa dances.

This is one I've seen them do up north in the woods. Still, don't know what it's called!

The girls with the golden fans are posing in puddles on that wet stage.

A few umbrellas are visible in the audience but, most people ran away.

It started pouring like a typhoon hit us and, I'm glad I was sheltered on that balcony.

Somebody Tried Calling Me

That's when she discovered my phone was home in the charger. LMAO

Somewhere, I read that people who are forgetful are really geniuses. I must be one of them.

We'll just call this one "The Pink Ladies with Purple Hats."

Look at the reflections in the puddles on the plywood stage. It could get slippery.

These youngsters must attend some performing arts school. They are really impressive.

Some traditional Okinawa music is jazzed up and they dance to it.

The barefoot red bandana ladies, we'll call this group.

They're singing and dancing to an old Ryukyu tune, not YMCA.

Call them Real Men Do It with Spears Dudes.

They're barefoot in the puddles. I'm happy on my balcony, where it's dry.

Guys with white shoes and flowery hats are dancing in the plywood puddles.

The rain has stopped and, children are gathering in front of the stage.

This character called Miruku gets on stage and children go wild.

Miruku will toss candies throughout the crowd. 

Notice the silhouettes of children with arms outstretched reaching to catch flying candies.

The grand finale is the Shishimai and his handler.

The creature is activated by two youngsters under that hairy lion's body.

After four hours of composing festival photos and dodging rain, I decided to leave early.

The moon never did stay clear of rain clouds, long enough to be photographed.

Walking home with the camera and tripod, the rain poured down again.

Just as I entered the gate at home, I noticed the moon peeking through the clouds.

It's not my favorite moon shot but, it's probably the only one I'll get this month!

Problem Solved - It's the Girl with the Cutest Nose

Children Perform Eisa at a Full Moon Festival

October 4th 2017 a Kangetsusai (moon viewing) Festival was held in Kin Town.

Wanting to travel light, I used a mono-pod and 18-250 MM lens, with the Pentax K1.

The mono-pod, would make it easier, to avoid having drunken revelers, shaking the camera.

The thing had been collecting dust, in my office for a few years.

It was my first time, using such a gadget and, it worked out pretty well.

I was standing at a level above most of the crowd and zooming-in on the stage.

Two younger grandchildren came along and said, "Jiji." That's Japanese for grandpa.

I hugged the girl and patted the boy. It started raining. I toweled his bald head, dry.

The granddaughter told me, "Kannon's up there doing Eisa."

Kannon, is a sixth grader and, daughter of my favorite daughter-in-law.

What kind of crappy grandfather, would I be if, I missed photographing her ?

A Busy Time of the Year

Celebrations, festivals and sports day events keep me going, around the clock.

There are probably thousands of images, waiting processing in my files.

The wind picked up, rain was falling down, on and off, during this matsuri (festival).

Some folks, ran off the field, seeking shelter. Others, popped open umbrellas.

The last time, I saw my granddaughter perform Eisa, she was wearing purple head-wear.

Assuming she'd be dressed in the same uniform, I concentrated on purple.

Then, used continuous firing on the camera's shutter button. Like a machine gun.

Frame the compositions, to include everybody in the crowd and, I couldn't miss her.

The weather or, something, even broke the loudspeaker system and, music stopped.

But, those spirited kids, kept on drumming, chanting and dancing. They were amazing.

At any Eisa event, there's always someone, whistling loud, like a whippoorwill on steroids.

Local men, fired-up on kettles of Okinawan spirits, contributed to the merrymaking.

After the Eisa

Along came my favorite daughter-in-law and, she saw that I had brought the camera.

"Papa, did you get photos of Kannon?" she asked me.

"Of course, I get photos of everybody. What sort of crappy grandpa, do you think I am?"

By the end of the event, I was exhausted. Dropped the camera by my office and, called it a day.

There were over 800 photos taken. I left a computer, downloading and, locked the door.

Out shooting the full moon, the past few nights, I haven't done much photo processing.

Here it is, a few days later and, everyone wants to see the pictures of Kannon.

Going through the image files, I couldn't find her. I looked at hundreds of photos.

Enlarging them on the screen and, looking at purple scarves, I didn't spot my granddaughter.

Bummed Out Grandpa

It's a good thing, I only have one daughter-in-law, in Okinawa. She's still my favorite, here.

The other one, in the USA is, my favorite American daughter-in-law.

It's also a good thing, I didn't delete all the photos, of those kids wearing purple.

After checking all the kids faces, on the stage, I noticed something.

Bouncing up and down, on the ground, were drummers, in red head bands.

All of a sudden, I spotted this doll, with a drum and a cute little nose, I'd recognize anywhere.

Why in the hell, didn't anyone tell me, the color of my granddaughter's uniform ?