Better late than never, I say.

Here’s the (very tardy) videolog from the Mililani Hongwanji bon dance held on August 17-18, 2007. It features highlights from the Ukwanshin Kabudan and introducing the faces behind the “Dancing Fools.” Unfortunately, some camera shy members are obviously absent from the roll call.

This was the first time that I was part of the jikata (musicians) rather than one of the dance leaders, so I also posted a behind-the-scenes look at a pre-bon dance practice session that I had with Norman. Sorely out of practice, but the only second string drummer on short notice, I wielded my sticks and hit the taiko to the best of my ability. It was fun seeing the bon dance from a different view — from high atop the yagura — and observing the crowd of dancers below. But, my heart is in the dance and I will always love the kinetic aspect of the art.

The video ends with a quick roll call of the “Dancing Fools” — well, the less camera shy ones in the bunch, that is — and introduces you to the faces that I’ve grown accustomed to seeing every weekend for the past three months. Now we’ll need to find another reason to get together on a regular basis.

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed being a part of it.

The last bon dance of 2007 came so quickly! It seems like only last week that we were at the Waipahu Plantation Village excitedly looking forward to a summer full of bon dances. “Time flies when you’re having fun” certainly applies here.

The video features scenes from the Autumn Matsuri, the last bon dance in Hawaii, held at the Hawaii Okinawa Center in Waipio on September 15, 2007. It is the largest (and only) indoor bon dance in Hawaii — and perhaps, the world. Special thanks to TheStuffGuy for manning the video camera as well as snapping stills of the bon dance posse to capture this event for the archives.

The “Dancing Fools” are already making plans for next year! Won’t you join us?

I was so busy enjoying myself at the concert, that I didn’t take much footage for the video. Besides that, we were in the front row, so our view was somewhat obscured by sharp angle of the stage. We had great views of the drummers/singers in the front, but couldn’t see the Rinken Band’s newest drummer (a very talented 10-year-old!) and barely caught glimpses of Rinken Teruya and Tomoko Uehara — until they stepped closer to the edge of the stage. I also found that I was running very low on memory on my 2 GB card by that time! (Mental note: Buy another 2 GB SD card for next year!)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this short glimpse of the Rinken Band concert!

Shaka Shisa

Our little group of friends met every week this summer at one bon dance or another, in constant search of the yummiest BBQ sticks, the liveliest rendition of the Fukushima Ondo, and of course, our favorite Okinawan dancing. I started calling them the “bon dance posse” and we tossed around ideas about giving ourselves a name and printing t-shirts just for fun. Today, Shari spent the better part of the day with me in my computer room brainstorming. I found a cute shisa graphic from a clipart book I bought from Okinawa back in 1999. However, always leery of nasty things like copyright infringement lawsuits and such, I decided to draw something on my Wacom tablet instead. I took some graphical ideas from the clipart and added my own elements to it and this is the end result. I hope he meets with the approval of the bon dance posse.

If you think he’s cute, Shaka Shisa gear is also on sale on my Zazzle page.

Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions to make him better, please send them along. (I don’t claim to be an artist, so go easy on me.)

I’ve been having fun with Zazzle, creating some t-shirts that you’ll probably find me wearing around town. They are mostly Okinawan or Japanese-themed. Of course, I do this mostly for my own amusement. But if you find them cool, even better! I’m still working on additional designs, but the initial batch is available now.

Before people get all up in arms over the “Japride” design, let me give you the background. And, just for the record, Hubby is Japanese — and this was his idea! It’s all in the name of good fun and, of course, not meant to be derogatory or racist in the least bit.

So, here’s the story…

You don’t have to drive very far on the H-1 freeway before you see a large vinyl-cut sticker declaring the ethnicity of the driver emblazoned across rear windows of cars and trucks. Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, etc. I remarked that Asians are sorely under-represented in this new trend. Where is the love? Where is the pride?

This sparked a lively discussion with my (Japanese) husband. Then, he exclaimed: “Japride!”

If you spell it “Japride,” it can be taken to read: “Jap Pride” or “Jap Ride.” Either of which is pretty appropriate. Think: Japanese rice rockets (suped-up Hondas and Toyotas with loud mufflers and dropped suspensions)

Could this be the beginning of a new phenomenon? Japanese from all over proclaiming their Japanese pride! Come on, you know you want one.

My first video of the Okinawan Festival was a sweeping overview of the scenes that I took in while spending two blazing hot days at the Kapiolani Park. However, I had enough footage to make “extended” versions of my favorite acts, which I’ll be sharing with you. No sense letting good footage go to waste, right?

Ryusei Daiko was definitely one of my favorite performance groups featured at this year’s festival. Their skill level and eisa expertise was unmatched. Not to mention, their shisa performance was one of the best I’ve seen. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Hanayakara is one of my favorite groups to watch. This multi-talented group is comprised of young girls ranging in age from 6 to 18. Their energy and skill is simply amazing and I am always inspired after watching them perform. This video is just a small glimpse of their performance at the 25th Okinawan Festival (2007) at the Kapiolani Park.