by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
One of the first bits of exploring that I did last year immediately after arriving on Okinawa was a trip to Naha with my new friends from work to view "10,000 Drums on Kokusai Street." For several hours groups of drum/drill teams marched along Kokusai Street which is in the heart of Naha's tourist district. As the next couple of months drew on, there were several impromptu drum shows at various locations on the island - with some in my own neighborhood. My friend, Murphy, and I even went to an evening drum and fireworks show.
Drum season is once again upon us, and there have been two drum shows close by my apartment building within the past week. As I was just beginning to get to sleep last Tuesday, I heard the Eisa drums start banging and the Okinawan banjos plunking. I looked out my bedroom window and had a great view of a drum presentation of about 40 young individuals six stories below. It was dark outside, so I stayed in and watched the show from the comfort of my apartment.
Then yesterday evening as the sun was preparing to set, another seemingly spontaneous show began about a block from where I live. I gathered my camera and headed down to see the show - but right on cue it all stopped just as I was approaching. I snapped a couple of shots anyway of the disbanding group. Enjoy!
The annual big drum and fireworks show (the Eisa Matsuri 2011 Festival) will be next weekend, so hopefully I will have some better pictures then.
I don't want to work, I just want to bang on the drum all day!
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| Note the big, red Esai drum lying on its side on the street. The small truck served as an amplifier for the music. |
One of the first bits of exploring that I did last year immediately after arriving on Okinawa was a trip to Naha with my new friends from work to view "10,000 Drums on Kokusai Street." For several hours groups of drum/drill teams marched along Kokusai Street which is in the heart of Naha's tourist district. As the next couple of months drew on, there were several impromptu drum shows at various locations on the island - with some in my own neighborhood. My friend, Murphy, and I even went to an evening drum and fireworks show.
Drum season is once again upon us, and there have been two drum shows close by my apartment building within the past week. As I was just beginning to get to sleep last Tuesday, I heard the Eisa drums start banging and the Okinawan banjos plunking. I looked out my bedroom window and had a great view of a drum presentation of about 40 young individuals six stories below. It was dark outside, so I stayed in and watched the show from the comfort of my apartment.
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| Drummers taking a break. |
The annual big drum and fireworks show (the Eisa Matsuri 2011 Festival) will be next weekend, so hopefully I will have some better pictures then.
I don't want to work, I just want to bang on the drum all day!
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