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Animation: Sanshin Player

Eisa Wouldn't Be the Same Without Them

 

 

When you're out chasing Eisa teams with a camera, catch some shots of these folks.

The drummers, dancers and costumes, make some good high contrast images.

Tucked away on the back of tiny pickup trucks is where you find these musicians.

They add lively, stringed instrument music to the activities and, are real friendly people.

Camera:  Pentax K1

Lens:  Pentax 18-250 at 48MM

Exposure:  f/11   1/13   ISO 1600

Location:  Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan

Date and Time:  AUG 16  2016  9:51PM 


More About Okinawa's Sanshin

Sanshin Day at Kin Temple

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:

15 Photos from Another Kin Town Live Matsuri

Bar Hopping with the Cameras

 

 

Last night this event took place, over in the Ushina part of Kin Town.

It's sort of a seedy bar district, where the best thing to do, is bring along someone to translate.

My accomplice, who's also learning to shoot a camera, came along for the fun.

Mami Sakiyama, the gal standing to the left of the tables, would be my assistant.

She's toting the Canon G12, in AUTO mode, listening to the opening speeches.

Our program said, the event would go from 6PM - 10:40PM.

At 6:29PM, I took this photo, from the entrance to the bar, which had standing room only.

It had been a long day, before we even arrived at this evening festival and, I was tired.

Live bands and entertainment, was what I needed, to keep me going, not speeches.

So, I decided to get out in the streets, to see if anything had started, yet.

We walked the side streets and could smell food cooking on charcoal grills.

Mami tried to take photos of the Orion lanterns, blowing in the wind.

All the camera would do, in AUTO mode, was give her blurry, overexposed images.

Well, she got a quick class on, ISO, aperture, shutter speed and, the use of a tripod.

Now, she's doing everything in Manual mode.  She's going to start shooting like a professional.

 It was around 7:30PM when, we heard the first band, playing Okinawan Mineo.

There are plenty of people, drinking, dancing and, hopping around, in this bar.

Awamori and the lively beat of the drum and sanshin, gets the crowd going.

I stayed at the entrance, to take this shot, knowing a tripod would be worthless, inside.

 I got the to Mama, running the bar,  to let us shoot from behind the counter, too late.

Just as consent was given, for Mami to get back there, the band finished playing !

  Shortly after 8PM we caught this talented individual, wearing his wig.

A comedian, singer and  musician, he's a one man band.

He was mimicking, Louis Armstrong, singing, What a Wonderful World.

This woman is a Japanese Enka singer who's very popular in Okinawa.

By now, you'd think, I would know her name but, I'm terrible at stuff like that.

Let's just call her a sweetheart, for now and, we'll get her name later.

It was so crowded, at this location, I tried shooting from outside, through an open window.

When that, didn't work, I squeezed up against a wall at the front door.

It was going on 8:30PM, cold outside and, I'm getting hungry, at this point.

Inside these bars, people were jumping around and, sweating; it was so hot.

So, off we went to another fine establishment and met Tomomi, this hip dude.

It would have been nice if, we had time to chat with him but, that never happened.

Believe it or not, I first met this character, in a cave, on another island.

And, I was going to have Mami ask, whether he 's got religion or, is just crazy, like me !

 Nobody picks a sanshin and sings traditional Okinawan songs better than Sari.

We've met a few times before and, I always give her a photo.

Waiting to go on stage, she's messing with me and, flipping that peace sign.

This singer croons tunes has CD's of his music out and, posters of him, hanging all over town.

He's known me for years and, we run into each other in bars, sometimes.

He also, owns one of those security companies that, check on your property at night.

He knows my name, too. I should probably, ask him what handle, he goes by. Huh ?

 Shortly before ten o'clock, I finally get to hear Tomomi and Sari on the stage.

It isn't easy, to take photos, under these conditions; you have to be quick.

 Wait for a moment, when no one else, gets into the scene and, shoot fast and steadily.

All the while, I'm watching the subject's movements and, their eyes.

More photos will be deleted than, are processed. That's the way it is and, always will be. 

By 10PM, Mami, told me the battery in her camera, went dead.

So, I let her take the tripod and, my Pentax K3, to see how she'd do, shooting on her own.

Remember, she just began shooting manually, earlier tonight. 

Across the room, I would signal, Sari, to turn towards the camera, occasionally.

It's not necessary to be intoxicated, to do this Okinawan dance.

But, for some people, I imagine, it helps !

The only way, for Mami, to get this shot was alongside the front of the stage.

She had the camera at ISO 400 and lens at 170MM and, got a good one.

Next, she nabbed this image of the drummer wearing his chief's bonnet.

He had called me and, said, "My son's bringing my American Indian hat," minutes earlier.

 The Kachashi dance, is done as as grand finale at any Okinawan event.

It doesn't matter, who you are, they are going to grab you and, have you dance.

So, as soon as, Mami got done taking this photo, I took my camera away from her.

So, she could go, enjoy the fun while, I sneaked outside for a smoke ! 




Related Posts:

Bar Crawl  or Pub Crawl -- Whatever You Call It Photos

Photos from Kin Town Live Matsuri Number Two

6 GIFs from Sanshin Day in Yomitan Okinawa

Here's a sampling showing some of the activities witnessed today.

The festivities took place in front of a shrine.

Traditional Okinawan dance was performed.

The sanshin music was accompanied by Japanese Harps.

They are stringed instruments, called koto ( 箏).

One drummer provided some rhythmic beats for the event.

It was a busy morning but, I was back in my office before 2PM.

And, over 700 images were downloaded off the camera.

It's dark outside right now but, I can still hear sanshin music on my radio.

Maybe, someone will be playing live in Kin Town, on my way home !




Map It Okinawa gives directions to this shrine.

Shadows and Lights in Kin Town Last Night

Live Matsuri Number Three

 

 

Names have been intentionally omitted, just in case.

A long time ago, I learned, arrive on the scene early for an event like this.

At 7:30PM the bars participating, were open and ready for business.

There wouldn't be any customers showing up for awhile.

So, I told these gals, if they stopped wiggling, I'd take their picture.

 By 7:45, I was back on the streets.

The bands were scheduled to start at 8:30 and, I had to keep occupied.

So, I shot some off the wall street scenes.

Two grandsons showed up, while I was in the middle of the street and said "Hi."

I said something like, "Grandpa's busy, SCRAM."  And, they went away.

 Okinawan Mineo (folk music) is my favorite part of any festival.

 It's hard to sit still when you hear somebody, twanging away on a sanshin.

And, if you throw an electric guitar, in the mix, everybody starts dancing !

Here is an Izakaya, I pass on the way back to the office.

It was 11:24PM when I decided to take a few shots of the place.

But, before I got to the front door, the lights went out.

  I left the camera in the office and, had to walk all the way back downtown to get a beer.

Shouldn't have yelled at the grand-kids.  Huh ?

One of a Kind Shrine in Okinawa

Something Was Different Here

 

Out of all the kinds of shrines and temples we visit, this was the first one like this.

Two big shisa statues were guarding the stairway leading through the torii.

This photo was taken as a reminder to do some research on this place.

Something told me, it wasn't a Buddhist Temple or, the usual Shinto  Shrine.

Akainko-gu Shrine

This site is believed to be where Akainko ascended into heaven.

According to the Ryukyu Cultural Archives, he is the patron deity of sanshin music.

Read more about the culture and history of the sanshin in:

From Whence We Came: Some Okinawa Cultural Icons 

View a short video

You May Also Like Happy Sanshin Day!

Travel Photo: Sari the Singer and Sanshin Strummer

Shooting photos of a live band, in a dimly lit bar, can be challenging.

Having, already gotten a signed model release, made this a bit easier.

But, I had to concentrate on the movement of the fingers, to prevent motion blur.

It wasn't until I downloaded my images, that I noticed those fingernails.

So, I googled and added a new word to my vocabulary.

Nail Art

 

Maybe, I spend too much time in the jungles.  I never knew about this stuff.

They have thousands of designs from Nails Magazine.

Look at the gallery, over on Pinterest

If you want to see more of Sari the singer, she's here.



Bar Crawl or Pub Crawl -- Whatever You Call It Photos

Kin Town in Okinawa Does It Right

The idea could catch-on as a great way to break up the week.

On a Wednesday night from 8-12PM we had this event.

Ten bars participated and, I'm guessing, ten Live Shows were involved.

 Whenever you see those Orion Beer lanterns hanging, something special is going on.

 Fortunaetly, for me, someone who could read the schedule, was an escort.

Okinawan Mineo (folk music) is my favorite so, that's where we went first.

The live acts were in some fairly small bars.

If you wanted, you could just sit in one place and watch as the bands rotated.

Or, get out and go bar-hopping.  So, I did both.

These gals rocked the house, they were in.  People were dancing and bouncing off the walls.

Don't ask me what kind of music it was, I wasn't listening.

Everywhere we went, the staff were friendly.

This entertainer was crooning some sort of love tunes.

This guy, I've seen on the cover of a CD so, he must be somebody important.

Here is an electric sanshin.  What will they think of next ?

Electric drums, would probably, put a lot of musicians out of business.

Whenever I got a chance, I shot entertainers, while they were holding still.

Do you get belly-dancers at your favorite watering hole, where you live ?

A standing ovation was awarded for this guy's impersonation.

By the time he was done, it was already midnight.

So, I packed away the camera and crawled to a pub, closer to home.

After a couple of beers, I was sitting on the floor, trying to figure out why my camera wouldn't focus.

A friend came in and said, "Hey Mike, why do you have your lens cap on?"

 One of these days, I'll have to see if I can get that gal to walk like an Egyptian.

Does anyone know where we could rent her a costume ?

  

 Events Like This Should Be Held More Frequently

 

It gives the artists and musicians something to do outside of their weekend gigs.

Everything was within walking distance so, nobody was tempted to drink and drive. 

Why didn't somebody invent this type of bar crawl, years ago ?