Wordless Wednesday: Fancy Footwear

Just Call Them Ladies of the Week

Ogimi Ungami 2019

 Ungami is a matsuri (festival) held in northern Okinawa on one of the hottest days of the year.

Luckily, some cloud cover and a gang of cooperative gals helped with the photography.

There is plenty of activity at this festival such as prayers, dance and boat races.

It can be frustrating, trying to compose decent photos at a matsuri.

Sometimes hundreds of photographers show up at these cultural events and, ruin the day.

Yesterday was no exception and we sneaked away from the crowds to find these ladies.

They were practicing dances before entering the congested area of the festival.

Prints will be made and brought to the Community Center, I promised.

The highlight of my day at the festival was being part of an audience of two, right here.

We were away from the crowds and got treated like royalty!

MORE: Festival in Ogimi

12 Images from 2019 Shinugu (シヌグ) in Ada Okinawa

Different Sort of Matsuri

Activities take place at several locations, during this festival, starting and ending here.

The straw-roofed structure is known as an asagi or Kami-Asagi.

Consider it a worship house, a place where a priestess prays to the sacred deities.

Arriving at the village of Ada a bit late, I missed the prayers at this location and moved on.

Being a bit late gave me an excuse to skip climbing the mountains in the blistering hot sun.

The men (decorated with vegetation) came down from the hills on a trail bordering the river.

Following the drummer, they are chanting "Hey, Ho, Hoi" or something like that.

Three groups of men following drummers, converge on this field bordered with banana plants.

Women are waiting in the open space, where the men circle around them.

The guys used tree branches to shoo away evil spirits up in the hills above the village.

Down on the outskirts of town, they use the sticks to swat evil spirits out of their women!

It's not some sort of domestic violence. Just ritual smacks of the sticks on the gal's heads.

Look close enough and you can see them smiling or laughing.

At some of the homes in the village, I noticed mothers holding their children up to be swatted.

A sacred grove, in the center of the village, is visited by the chanting, drumming men.

Only about five minutes is spent here circling the area before, shooing away evil spirits.

Facing the sea, men kneel and pray for a good catch and safety during the season.

Rituals and prayers have been conducted in the fields, on the mountains, and along the shore.

After marching under the hot sun, it's time to get rid of the itchy decorations of the jungle.

A quick dip in the ocean cools our heroes off before they head back into town.

Many of them will jump in the river, to rinse off the saltwater before heading home.

About a three-hour break in the schedule takes place before the next events.

Evening Activities

A field in front of the Kami-Asagi becomes center stage for the rest of the festival.

To the sound of Sanshin (3 stringed banjoes) a ritual dance is performed.

Women give the orders here, instructing men on the planting of rice.

Let's just call this a pole dance, the men are doing. Women are watching the men smiling, too.

When they poke that thing into the straw roof, I guess that could be considered the climax.

As the sun begins dipping below the mountains, women perform dances in their kimonos.

Ahum, eligible females would be wearing white uniforms. Other gals are leading the dance.

Before long, it becomes dark outside and the dances become more quickly paced.

Visitors along the sidelines are sitting on mats eating and drinking alcoholic spirits.

Time for me, to put the cameras away and do some socializing before, heading home.

Related Post:  The Mountains and Ocean Are Calling Me

12 Images from Eisa Matsuri 2019 in Kin Town Okinawa

Hundreds of Photos Were Taken

Yesterday two summer festivals (matsuri) took place at Kin Dam.

The Kin Dam Festival and the 20th annual Kin Eisa Matsuri were held in a dam park.

On a July afternoon the temperatures outside are almost unbearably sticky hot.

The Dam Matsuri took place from 10 AM until 5 PM.  I skipped that one!

Arriving early enough to check some camera positions out, I stayed mostly in the shade.

The smells of food cooking in festival tents, drifted over my way and was irresistible.

So, I went and gobbled some food (you don't want to hear about) down.

Then, walked over to these Chondara dudes and asked if, I could take their photo.

Chondara, also known as Gajan Gani, are sorta friendly clowns.

After showing them how the photo looked on the camera LCD screen I said "Thanks" and left.

There never used to be children, doing the Eisa dances at festivals, in years gone by.

But, recently you may see kids out dancing with the adults almost anywhere.

Not sure if these are sisters or, mother and daughter, I didn't bother to ask.

Whoever the children are, they must practice plenty because they're really good.

The timing of their movements is excellent and, they even know how to chant and shout.

It isn't just the young girl children out there; boys get in on the act too.

These guys bang the drums, just like the big men do and, they do some high stepping, too.

One toddler was probably too small for the Eisa uniforms but, got to dance anyway.

Other little kids on the sidelines sorta kept cheering him on. Bet they envied him!

The light started fading as the sun crept down behind the mountains and I was glad.

A gentle breeze would soon start cooling things down out on that hot field.

It's difficult taking photos of the dancers, with all the guests surrounding the performers.

You're not allowed to just kick grandmas and grandpas, to get them out of the way. Rats.

Sundown Saved the Day

There are always plenty of people who know me, at these events and we get to chat.

The hardest part, is when they try bringing me some saki or beers.

Usually, I tell them I'm working and can't drink until I finish. They understand.

The Gajan Gani (Chondara/Clowns) from Nakagawa performed here.

They got their district started with the night's Eisa dances and, they were great performers.

Had there been a competition among the Eisa groups, these folks would have won!

Nakagawa, had some little tyke drummers, too.

This would be the last group I photographed doing their dances. Time to leave the crowd.

Hanabi or Fireworks Next on the Schedule

It happens to me all the time.  The fireworks go off right where you don't want them to be.

Heading away from the crowds, I set my camera and tripod up at the edge of a field.

The first few blasts took place almost directly overhead.

Knowing I probably wouldn't be getting any award winning photos, I didn't cuss.

All you can do is move the camera lens around and hope for the best.

It's alright to cuss, too. Just do it softly so, nobody can hear you. 

Shit...

The wind was blowing but, all the smells and smoke of the fireworks hung in the air.

Next year if this matsuri is in the same location, I'll distance myself from the explosions.

Like, get up on a hill away from the fairgrounds and maybe get some reflections in water.

It was a festival at a dam. Why didn't I think about reflection shots?  Dammit!

My parting shot. I'll call it, "Sunflower."

12 Fireworks Photos from the Kyuzo Toyama Matsuri in Kin Town

Away from Festival Grounds

Kyuzo Toyama is considered the father of Okinawan emigration.

Kin Town is celebrating the 150th year of his birth during this annual festival.

Grounded by doctor's orders and heavily medicated, I didn't attend the matsuri.

Having been to this festival dozens of times, I came up with a plan. Stay home.

Under orders, to not leave the house, I simply went up on the roof.

Normally, the bursts of fire would appear off to the west of my position.

This year the wind decided to carry the show off towards the north.

Having the camera and zoom lens mounted on a sturdy tripod made things simple.

It was easy to swing the contraptions around and capture a few good shots.

The camera was taken off Auto Focus and, I focus to infinity.

That way the lens won't be continually searching in the dark for fireworks.

Starting things off, I use an exposure of f/11 1/60 ISO 100.

Hanabi can be tricky and you learn to adjust the shutter speed, quickly.

Some photos were exposed 0.3 seconds, others to 1.6 seconds. I go with the flow.

There are advantages to being up on a roof shooting festival fireworks.

Number One: Nobody can walk in front of the camera and ruin your shot!

My method of shooting is, use continuous firing mode or rapid fire.

That means, I hold the shutter button down and fire bursts of 3 or 4 images at a time.

Everyone has their own preferences for fireworks photography. That's mine.

If, you Google "Fireworks Photography" there are probably a dozen other ways of doing it.

A tripod makes things a lot easier and eliminates camera shake somewhat.

But, I have also steadied the camera resting on a fence, wall, or rock and, done just as well.

An advantage I discovered this time around, to being farther away pleased me.

The wind seemed to clear the smoke surrounding the fireworks, more quickly.

Smoke can ruin some great shots when it clouds-up images.

Hanabi, translated to English, would mean, flower fire. What flower is this?

Maybe a dandelion or one of those weeds growing on your lawn?

Grand Finale

The Mad Moment, when all Hell breaks loose gave me flashbacks.

They must say, "Times up" and load everything they've got in their mortar tubes.

Not very pretty but, this photo shows some buildings silhouetted in the foreground.

I could email you a digital copy for only 5 bucks! 

Google Maps Directions

Almost Missed Fireworks at Kin Matsuri

Thanks to an Alert Granddaughter

The sun was still blazing hot when I arrived at the Kin Town Matsuri.

Placing the tripod and camera under a food counter, I did some serious BBQ eating.

The only photos I planned on shooting, would be the fireworks.

Some friends, hanging around the festival food booths, were drinking beer.

Some medications, I'm taking gave me an excuse to, not join them, enjoying the booze.

Along came the Mayor and, he wanted to chat, meet my friends and, drink beers together.

The next thing, you know, everybody's buying beers and doing cheers.

That was my excuse, to partake in a little bit of beer drinking. Not to insult the Mayor.

The Mayor, doesn't speak much English and the gang, didn't speak Japanese.

Even though, I'm not an official translator, I had to do some simple translating.

Like, introducing people and, telling the Mayor their ages and occupations.

Maybe, stuff like, "Wow. She's got nice jeans." When some gal walked by.

Other than that, everybody kept buying, each other, cups of beer and saying, "Kampai."

That's what folks do, when drinking and making toasts in Japan.

The Mayor, floated away in the festival crowds so, we kept drinking beers without him.

Along came a granddaughter, who knows, I have a camera, for the festival, somewhere.

She asked if, grandpa remembers, why he came to this festival.

"I came to shoot the hanabi (fireworks), I told her."

"Where's your camera, Grandpa?"

"Over there, under the counter."

"Hurry up and get ready."

"Why" I said, "The hanabi don't start, until 8:45."

"She came back with, "Grandpa, it's 8:40 now!"

Holy crap. I had to slam my cup of beer and run to get the camera set up.

These shots were taken between 9:00 and 9:02 PM, the last few minutes of the fireworks.

More Photos on Facebook in the Kin Town Matsuri 2017

Flower Photos: 2017 Azalea Festival Higashi Village Okinawa

First Day of Spring

There were heavy clouds and some sprinkles of rain in the hills of Okinawa today.

But, that doesn't keep nature loving people of the island, from getting out for a matsuri.

Rather than, shoot photos of people with umbrellas, I did some zooming with the lens.

Climbing the walkways through this hillside, was some exercise my body needed.

Some of those blossoms, give off a strong scent, I can't really describe. Let's see.

Well, they smelled lots better than, some of the perfume, on the gals walking around. Hah !

If, the sky would have cleared, photos with blue sky, would have been taken.

That wasn't going to happen until, long after I, headed back to my office.

Before long, I noticed something. There were only three colors of flowers.

Red, pink and white. Don't they have orange, purple or yellow ones, they could plant ?

It was nice, to be out in the fresh air and, climbing hills but, sort of a wet day.

Suddenly, I got an idea. "Maybe, people want to see the skyline."

Lots of folks might be thinking. "This is boring, show us the sky."

For Those Not So Crazy About Flowers

 

A decision was made, to go out of my way and, present something different, today.

I told my friend Doc Graff, sometimes folks like to see crappy weather. Not me.

Here's the view, from the azalea festival, I got while facing Okinawa's east coast.

It doesn't exactly lure visitors to the island for beach parties or swimming.

We got down off the hill and, stopped at a tent for some festival food, just in time.

It was a first, for me, eating this variation of Yakisoba. First time, in a lifetime.

Barbecued pork ribs (soki) on a pile of yakisoba. Mouthwateringly delicious, it was.

It was a tad more expensive than, normal matsuri food. About 10 bucks or, 1000 yen.

Would I go back there and, eat a meal like that again?  YUP !