Okinawan Folk Dancing

[dgotmadskilz]

I miss Okinawa, love your videos! Thanks for sharing!

[KaraShono]

i miss Okinawa... i lived there 10 yrs DX

[alaskawilde]

amazing; i grew up there! yay! it was beautiful the video is amazing

[jtno2]

Thanks for posting! I was born in Okinawa but don't remember much since I moved to the US when I was about 3.

[AgileHProductions]

@jtno2 You should check out my other Okinawa videos. I did a whole series called "Tour of Okinawa" that you might find interesting.

[Meira]

Oh wow this really brought back memories. I lived in Japan almost 20 years ago when I was a little kid. I've never forgotten so many of the things you've shown here, like this song.

[AgileHProductions]

@Meira Nihe Debiru! Thanks for watching!

[Meira]

@AgileHProductions Why'd I only say Japan? I meant Okinawa obviously, heh. I was really close to Kadena Air Base and went to BC street a lot. I heard they changed the name since then though. That's not Gate-2 street is it?

[AgileHProductions]

@Meira It's been a while since I've been there, I think BC street and Gate 2 Street run parallel to each other. Can someone help me out with this?

[0SweetRevenge0]

Reminiscent of some basic hula steps.. I'll research that further seeing as Japan has had a big influence on Hawaiian culture... I'm fairly certain dances such as this influenced Yuna's Ikai Okuri in Final Fantasy 10

[johnmorris008]

Akisamiyoo! Did they use this song in 'TEA HOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON"?

Reminds me of a girl named Hatsu Chyan Maeda and many friends I left

behind in Okinawa in 1962 and 63. Nifee deebiru. Thanks for the mem'ries

and the post. Akabu San.

[holleymccoy]

When I learned the different dances of Okinawa, my dance teacher told me that Okinawan dance had many influences because the Okinawans were traders - they traded as far as Thailand and India and Korea to the north and would bring back not just goods, but different cultural influences as well. Of course a lot of Chinese influence as before Japan took over Okinawa in the 19th century, the Ryukyuan kingdom was affiliated to China (but not Chinese).

[TheFaustianMan]

Yes, your dance teacher would be correct. However, the Japanese still are directly influenced by the Chinese as well. "Kanji" literally translates in archaic Japanese to "Chinese writing". Therefore, one cannot keep the Japanese as separate from the Chinese viz. the Okinawan as well.

And furthermore, the scale of the music is already heavily westernized. Thus, this song would be like watching Jpop and thinking it was authentic "Japanese" and had something to do with history..

[ytcomposer]

Natoma! iya sa sa!

[CactusWolf]

My American wife is half Okinawan and half Irish.

I am Turkish, Iranian and French, I was a British citizen before becoming an American Citizen.

My son has all of the above in him and knows about all the languages and cultures. He is a true American born in California.

It is amazing how we are all connected. All in all...

[Gesquel80]

I think this traditional dance has Indian roots

[TheFaustianMan]

I am not exactly sure I know what you mean by that. But to clarify:

Okinawa>Japan>Korea>China>Mong­olia>Himalayas>India

I have obviously left out other places or I would have run out of characters. Now, In a very roundabout way yes, it has Indian "roots" but the dance is actually Japanese, despite Okinawans saying otherwise, it comes from a very small island in the west of Japan. As does their skulls and most of their DNA.

[nippononna]

About our DNA,

watch?v=JQ1QIXK43Wk

[ihatomi]

What a pure bucket of BS! Prior to the mid 19th century Japanese influence on Okinawan culture was very minimal and the Okinawans maintained their culture despite the attempted "Japanization" of the Ryukyus. These court dances and traditional music can be traced almost directly to the Chinese, particularly from Taiwan with even more Korean influence than Japanese. You better sign up for Anthropology 101.

[TheFaustianMan]

"almost directly" is an interesting choice of words.

DNA and skull size is empirical.

While what you refer to as "court dances" (as the there was technically no courts as the civilization is rather animistic rooted in a prehistory more likely to be shamanism,) are constantly subject to change.

Even the scales of the Koto, have been westernized by now. Sorry to say, the culture has changed much, and this dance is no way indicative of the past.

Dance does not necessarily define history.

[TheFaustianMan]

Hey asshole, just waiting for any type of reference to back up your argument.

[Shanti09789]

@ihatomi Thanks for that ihatomi, my Mom's is from Okinawa and constantly talked about the "Chinese Connection" (pun intended) and it doesn't take a genious to do a simple comparison/contrast between Okinawan 'folk dance' movement and costuming and Japanese 'folk dance' movement and costuming to how different they are. "Peasant' dances and costumes remind me more of Chinese/Indonesian costumes than anything else.

[dakoata121212]

It appears to.

[46497]

沖縄が昔琉球国だったんだなーとか思うのは、エイサーを視聴する­とき。

[reinadez]

i miss seeing these festivals so much!!This is all i wanted to do when i was visiting my grandparents in Okinawa! lol

[ChickensMustDie]

i have been to okinawa for the uchinanchu festival.. i had so much fun! i especially love the traditional danced.. thank you so much for uploading this!

[AgileHProductions]

You should check out the other videos that I am making about Okinawa. Just search for "agileh" and "okinawa". Thanks for your feedback.

[Odor1o1]

This dance is Hatoma Bushi and it is about a young man who lives on Hatoma Island. Notice the brisk Karate hand movements. The original dance was slower and so was the music. But when it came to the main island of Okinawa it changed to a faster version.

[AgileHProductions]

Wow. That's a lot of great info. Thanks for the feedback. This will be helpful to a lot of people. If you want to see more videos about Okinawa, you should do a search for "James Knott" and "Okinawa". I have a bunch posted.

[Odor1o1]

Go to Ukwanshin Kabudan website we're a group of dancers and musicians in Hawaii. We had a performance recently in Okinawa. Many of our friends have their accreditation in music and dance and do research to retain the original movements that have been passed down.

[yuffie24neddea24]

@Odor1o1 I wasn't the only one who noticed the Karate hand movements! Wow, that's great. I've just read Funakoshi-sensei's book, where he said it, and wanted to check it out. Wonderful dance and wonderful music!

Sorry about my English, by the way...

[Shanti09789]

@yuffie24neddea24 "Karate" is actually Okinawan in origin and made it's way up to Japan. Most of the "Samurai" arts involve the katana (and later the knife), Spear, and bow/arrow... the earliest form of empty hand combat for "Samurai" were "Jutsu" type arts that were more grappling/striking combos, but - much like today's military training - the empty hand side was not isolated or stressed as much as the weapon training.

[tjmixmasta]

interesting. :) I like it alot. (n_n)

[AgileHProductions]

You should check out my videos on visiting Okinawa. Just search for "James Knott" and "Okinawa".

[tjmixmasta]

Alright! Will do. :)

Thanks!

[Chichiri520]

Is this Hatoma Bushi?

[cigarmikey]

finally! I've wondered what this song, or music was. 10 Years ago, I was stationed in Okinawa and went to a cool festival and really enjoyed this music.

[AgileHProductions]

I have several other videos with Okinawan music and one about visiting Okinawa.

[tjmixmasta]

I was in Okinawa too, about 14 years back, with my father. He was stationed at Kadena AFB.

[suyekoyona]

great dancer... Satokosan dances so well!!! I am learning this dance from your video. I love this song very much... From Huntington Beach, Southern California

[AgileHProductions]

I'm glad you liked the video. I'll let Satoko-san know that you inspired her.

[hapauchinanchu]

I Love Okinawa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!! I live in San Francisco for the past 30 years but could not be happy if I did not have my Okinawa friends,dance group here!Beautiful dancing and music

[wenjinweb]

When visit Japan, dont forget to visit Okinawa.

[AgileHProductions]

Do you live in Okinawa? We were just there in October. It was awesome. You should check out my other video about visiting Okinawa. Just search for "James Knott" and "Okinawa" and it should come up. Thanks for the feedback.

[aichan25]

i love the sound of okinawan music and the dances ^__^

my mom and i are part of the okinawan group in Pensacola FL. my moms friends do alot of this dancing...i need to try to learn it again

[AgileHProductions]

You should check out my other video about visiting Okinawa. I had a great time visiting. Just search for "James Knott" and "Okinawa" and it should come up. Thanks for the feedback.

[Vampsbware]

That was so cool!  I really loved it!

[W0nd3rw0m4n]

OKinawans are acutally not really Japanese..Okinawans are actually a mix of mainly Taiwanese and Korean.. They were there own counrty know as the Ryukyu Kingdom and were what we call "flower" people..I dont know if I said that right..There dancing is different from Japanese..I got this little bit of info from my grandma who is Okinawan..BUT I LOVE THIS VIDEO!!!

[mkayly]

wow..interesting to know. i need to google this area.

[IppikiOokami]

awsome

[daidybone]

I lived on Okinawa main Island for 5 years. I feel such a kindred spirit with the people of Okinawa. Thank you for the video.

[jknott]

Very Beautiful