Eisa Festival

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Eisa Festival

Every year in Okinawa there is an island-wide Eisa Festival. Eisa is an Okinawan ceremony that entails dancing and the beating of drums in prayer for good health and a good harvest. Originally, the ceremony was performed to welcome and console the souls of one’s ancestors during the Summer ‘Bon’ season, but has evolved into community celebrations.

A friend and I went to Kokusai Street where an Eisa Festivals was taking place. We arrived in the late afternoon about an hour before the event was to conclude, yet the streets were still packed with dancers and spectators. There were performances by both children/young adults and adults. The older dancers were still going strong but the younger ones looked tired. It was really hot out and they were constantly performing their dance segments for nearly an hour with only 5 minute breaks every so often. We walked along the street for about an hour, watching the different performances and then headed back to the car.

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