(Hey that's me!)I have to admit, I've been feeling more and more guilty about not making entries into this blog as of late. It's the type of guilt one feels for eating that extra piece of cake or wasting an entire Sunday lazing around the house watching TV. It's a guilt that gets easier and easier to shrug off as the weeks go by. In fact, if it wasn't for my weird ability to get involved into things I have no business getting involved in, I might have thrown in the towel weeks ago.
Out of boredom, I ever so often go visit the local "izakaya" or Japanese pub just down the street from my house. I know Mama-san there who is a very kind and easy-to-smile Okinawan women who after losing her husband to cancer, has been trying to succeed in running her own business. I get to talking to her about my interests in things Okinawan, and she suggests to me that I talk to the Koja (the name of my neighborhood) Community Center leader. Next time he comes in, I'll give you a call she says. So I meet up with him in about a weeks time and I get to drinking with this guy and I end up meeting the whole Shishimai or "Dragon Dance" troop in one of their monthly "Nomikai's" (basically, its a drinking party). I get to drinking and have a great time and go home. The next week, I find my name on the local list of Dragon Dance team members as a "Sanshin" (Okinawan banjo-type instrument) player. Wow, my cell phone number and home address are posted on that list and everything! How did that get there, I think to myself (no recollection whatsoever of telling ANYONE I would join their troop). Then I think, crap I guess I better go through with it. And that's how it all started.
(The Koja Shishimai Troop, Okinawa City, Okinawa Japan)
Turns out, the shishimai troop is the first troop to come out of Okinawa City in 30 some odd years. We are practicing hard every week for an upcoming Prefecture wide competition in September. Nevermind about my PE exam or my more than full time work schedule, and not to mention my two kids at home. Okay, I have no time for this but I simply can't resist!
I actually don't know much about the Shishimai so I don't think I can do it justice but the basic premise is that its origins are from the Chinese "Dragon" dancing festival. You've all seen it, 10 chinese guys running down the street carrying a dragon costume along with various dancers and musicians. Looks interesting right? So the Okinawa's have something related but very different. First of all in Okinawa, its not a dragon. Its actually a "Shisa", which is kind of like a mystic creature (mix of a dog and dragon) which Okinawan's traditionally put in front of their houses to ward off bad spirits. You can see an example of contemporary and very cute shisa on the top of my blog page. These of course are cute little tourist trinkets and aren't the real thing. The shishimai troop is basically made up of 3 main groups, I think... You have the drummers or "taiko" group. You have 2 dragon dogs or "Shishi" which are each comprised of two men inside that shag carpet costume. Then you have the "sanshin" group with accompany the drums for a musical background to the performance. You also have misc people that blow seashell horns and bang on metal chimes. Apparently, the Okinawan Dance of the Dragon Dog is made to look very realistic, where the movements of the Shishi are imitated against the real movements of a canine or "dog" for the lay person. In contrary, the movements of the Chinese Dragon are more "unworldly" like a floating/flying mystical creature.
I actually don't really know very much, but I'll figure it out as I go along I guess. Meetings with the Shishimai group are always an intersting mixture of half-understandings and blurred messages due to my ever-so-maladaptive Japanese skills. Anyways, I'll post more later after we perform in this local festival "Manta Matsuri" on the 10th of August. Its our first performance as a troop and is a vital practice for the real deal in September. Until next time, peace out. Oh, check out the kick-butt taiko drumming group on the video link below. The first time I saw these kids go at it, my eyes actually started to tear up.
