Festivals, dancers and sunsets.........

During the summer months, there is some kind of festival  somewhere on the island every weekend.  On my last weekend before going back to AZ for a visit, a festival was being held at Sunset beach just across the marina from my apartment house.  I wandered down to see what was going on and lucked out to arrive just before the last of the Eisa dancers took the the sand.  Eisa is a dance unique to the Okinawa (Ryukyu) islands and I was so happy I had a chance to see it in person.  More on the history of the dance can be found here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisa_(dance)

Chillin' out behind the stage waiting for their turn to perform.

The drum needs two people-one to hold on and the other to tie it into place!  Same thing with the headbands - they took turns getting one another dressed before the performance.

The boots the dancers wore fascinate me.....Japanese culture apparently thinks the big toe deserves its' very own shoe compartment or something.  Even funnier was the look on the dancer's face when I asked if I could take a picture of his feet, LOL!

The women all dance to the beat of the drum....their kimonos, shoes, and hair accessories all color coordinated and matched to the drummers outfits.

Waiting to perform.....each "team" of Eisa dancers had very colorful outfits!

My last Okinawa sunset before heading back to the states......I didn't know it at the time but it was going to be one of my last Okinawa sunsets altogether....I found out when I arrived back in Arizona that I was being transferred to Yokosuka when I returned to Japan in August........stay tuned for Part II of my Japan adventures "Redhead in Yokosuka"........