Visiting Okinawa - Celebrating Okinawan Culture

[LittleMsMadness]

I have been living in Okinawa for the past 12 years and will move back to Ohio soon. I never knew Ohio was represented in a parade.  I have been in touch with the Okinawa club in my hometown, Columbus. Even though I look American I am truly Okinawan at heart. Thanks for letting others know the beauty of Okinawa.

[AgileHProductions]

@LittleMsMadness My mother-n-law is in the Ohio Okinawa Tomonokai. I'm usually at the gatherings. Make sure you say hi if you show up at one of their functions.

[iamearthbornami]

thankyou i really enjoyed seeing and learning of Okinawa and her people

[lukaluei]

Cool! My mother grew up in Okinawa for a few years at one of the American Air Force bases located there. I think it was from 1960-1963, and I'm so glad that traditonal story books and this culture was introduced to my home. :)

[WanchaiFerryWonton]

Interesting!

[Odor1o1]

Mainland Japan is responsible for having many of the old businesses close or to be sold because of Progress and development in Naha and around the island even to the point of changing the street names to Japanese.

[kensan0809]

great video ! Thanks !

[petrosros]

nice music

[retro0906]

I just came back from Okinawa and fell in love with the song in the first few seconds of the video does anyone know what the song is called and where i can find it. Thanks

[hagolan]

the name of the song is "ashibina"

[xxxCheeryCherryxxx]

I miss Okinawa. My relatives are there and I have never met them. I left Okinawa in 1981. Thank you for your video. I really need to go back to my home land.

[edsmovie]

Yeah, me too. I was last there in 1987.

[xxxCheeryCherryxxx]

I don't meet too many people from Okinawa. Are you from there, Ed?

[edsmovie]

Yep. Just about 8 blocks south of Kokusai Dori!

[palestein]

How Kukusai street has changed! Are there any small wooden shops left? They were there in 1968 when I lived in Naha. The character of Okinawa doesn't seem to have changed a bit. I still think of my friends and co workers and all the laughter we shared in those days.Surely most of them are still alive. I had my own car and drove all over the place. We were so young then. I'm 62 now and I still have the shamisen I was given that I never quite learned to play. Thank you all. Tony

[AgileHProductions]

There are no more wooden shops, but I would have loved to see it. The closest you can find to that might Heiwa-Dori - which I made a video about.

[A3413074]

Arigatou gozaimasu

Nihedebiru

[ihaveart]

God I miss my family in Okinawa...I have to get away from the politics and crime of Baltimore...Thanks for the video made me tear....

[josephayal]

i sniff hot chiks panties from okinawa

[reinadez]

I am half Okinawan :) i really miss it there! it is soo beautiful with sooo many friendly people there! I recently visited my family in Okinawa this summer and i had soo much fun :)My cousins are soo lucky that they get to take A Sa classes i wish i could! i already feel homesick even though i mainly grew up here in NM :(

[W0nd3rw0m4n]

I have never been to Okinawa but my dad and his family are Okinawan and all we got a chance to experience is the music. I love how in the dance sequences you can see the different cultures that have had an impact on the Ryukyu islands and the Okinawan people. My fammily wants to go to Okinawa and thi makes me want to go even more. I cried watching this. I am missing out on so much ='(

[AgileHProductions]

Not sure whether you saw it or not, but I have a whole episode about Okinawan Musical Traditions in my series about Okinawa.

straycompassDOTcomSLASHokinawa­DOTphp

[okinawa68]

Thanks for posting this video. Your respect and love for Okinawa is evident and moving. I grew up in Okinawa and left in 1981 after high school. Since then I've only been back a handful of times. I'm constantly homesick for the beautiful island. Your video brought tears to my eyes. I'll look for your other videos.

[Mary6906]

Wow, thanks for posting this video.... It brought back a lot of memories from when I was there quite a few years ago (1981-1984)

[AgileHProductions]

If you subscribe to my videos, then you can use whatever you want in your project.  Glad you liked it.

[Kilaulani]

thanks for the knowledge you gave me...

do you mind if i use some of the information for one my projects???...

i am also a okinawan dancer in odori...

and i love the okinawan culture...

actually i love the japanese culture...

it's pretty fasinating...

thank you...

[delfinae]

This is great! I'm not okinawan, I'm argentinian, amd study japanese in the Okinawa Center of Argentina (there are a lot of decendents here) and I was able to go to festivals and met wontherfool people and had a lot of fun in the festivals. Thanks for sharing these!

sorry for my english ^_^U

[AgileHProductions]

Thanks for the nice comment. I'm really excited about my Okinawan videos. I have a bunch more to edit, so you should consider subscribing if your into Okinawa. That way you'll be notified when a new video is posted. It's the big orange button in the upper right hand corner.

[AgileHProductions]

Also, you should check out my new web site StrayCompassDOTcom for more travel videos about Okinawa, Japan and the rest of the world.

Thanks,

James

[caleuthe]

I am a 40 yr. old Okinawan/American who has been in the U.S. since I was 18 months old. I have not had the opportunity to go back and visit family. My mother decided not to teach myself and my two brothers anything of the Okinawan culture since the day she came to the U.S. because she was constantly ridiculed for being in a mixed marriage with an American military man. Now that you have generously posted your videos, I can now experience my heritage. Thank you!!!

[AgileHProductions]

I am honored and humbled by your kind message. I have a lot more videos to post, so please keep watching. You have everything to be proud of because of your Okinawan heritage. The people on the island of Okinawa are kind and wonderful and it is such a beautiful place with a great unique cuture. Hopefully, you can get a chance to visit and touch your heritage first-hand.

[charmingcarolyn]

Thank you so much for this awesome video!!! (You even pronounced everything correctly!) I was a professional tour guide on Okinawa for 7 years, and my husband and I were both tour guides for several of the Hawaiian Uchinanchu groups during the 3rd Tai Kai in 2001. We did not have a video camera and it was great to see everything again. (You also have a beautiful speaking voice!) I look forward to seeing your other videos.

[AgileHProductions]

Thanks for your kind, kind words. I am working on an entire series about Okinawa. If you search for "James Knott" and "Okinawa" you can find the first four videos that I made. I plan on making 25+ short podcasts about Okinawa.

They are called "Okinawa, Japan 1: Intro", "Okinawa, Japan 2: Heading North", "Okinawa, Japan 3: Hedo Misaki", and "Okinawa, Japan 4: Hiking Route 58"

[MiamiSoldi3r]

i really appriciate who made this vedeo .thank you so much

[hapauchinanchu]

I am a hapauchinanchu who was born and lived on okinawa for 12 years. You displayed beautifully the culture. The Peace Memorial recognizes the families who were killed during the war. The people however are tenacious and peaceful despite the atrocities of war, My beloved mother being a survivor. Looooooved your video! Nifee debiru!

[AgileHProductions]

Thanks for your feedback. I will have more videos about Okinawa coming in the future. If you subscribe to my videos, you will be automatically notified when they are posted. I had a great time in Okinawa and can't wait to go back.

[CIramina]

in the begining the eisa members the Ryukyu Matsudori daiko I knew one of the members who performed at the Taikai he was my Eisa instructor during the Junior Study Tour which was in July-August which was also part of the Uchinanchu Taikai you call your group a Tomono kai? we call ours a Kenjinkai I am from MI great video though brings back good memories thankyou

[aichan25]

I'm a second generation okinawan aso, it was my 1st time going to the festival itself last year, and i enjoyed it so much! I'm so glad you made this video, because it expresses how i feel about Wonderful Okinawa.

thank you so much for sharing and i'm off to watch your other video's

i hope you don't mind if i use them on my myspace account

^___^

[AgileHProductions]

Please feel free to post my videos anywhere you want. I have 2 other videos on Okinawan Dancing that you can also post. Look out for more videos about Okinawa in the coming months.

[aichan25]

thanks ! haha, i just noticed i'm in one of the clips at shuri castle.

[AgileHProductions]

That's crazy! Half a world away, yet footsteps apart. Which shot? What are you wearing?

[JAWjaw]

As a long time gaijin resident of the island, I really enjoyed how you captured the basics of the traditional culture. One of the best vistor's videos about the island I've seen... :)

[AgileHProductions]

Thanks a lot. I shot over 20 hours of video while I was there and I'm planning on making other videos about Okinawa. Please check back in a few months to see if there done.

[victorcola]

Great

[AgileHProductions]

Thanks for watching. Please pass this on to anyone you know who might enjoy learning about Okinawa.

[suyekoyona]

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MOVIE!!!

[AgileHProductions]

Thanks a lot. I was really excited to go to Okinawa and meet my new relatives. We had a great time and I learned a lot. I'm going to be making more videos with the footage I shot, so stay tuned for more.