Okinawan fest jumpin' with culture
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writer
'Ewa Beach resident Raoul Menard raved about the cultural displays at the Okinawan Festival, which he and his wife attend every year.
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"But the biggest thing we come for is the andagi," Menard said with a smile.
Yumemi Ikemi, center, and about 70 members of the Ryukyukoku Matsuri Daiko Hawaii group performed a number on taiko drums at the 21st Annual Okinawan Festival at Kapi'olani Park yesterday. The two-day festival concludes today.
The andagi appeared to be among the biggest crowd pleasers at the 21st Annual Okinawan Festival, which began yesterday and continues today at Kapi'olani Park.
But residents and visitors who came to the festival also took in entertainment, cultural displays and exhibitions that captured the heritage brought here by immigrants from Japan's southernmost prefecture, Okinawa.
Okinawans arrived in Hawai'i in 1900 to work on sugar plantations. By 1925, about 20,000 Okinawans had settled here and grew to a community estimated at 45,000 today.
Tents at the festival featured bonsai, pottery and displays, including genealogy, costume and calligraphy. People snacked on food such as yaki soba, andadogs — an Okinawan version of a corn dog — and Okidogs, a burrito with shredded shoyu pork.
Kane'ohe resident Shauna Batad, 39, laughed as she watched her three young daughters dress in colorful bingata kimonos and hanagasa hats for a photo.
"I think it's good for the kids, for them to see what their culture is — the dress, the food, the entertainment, so that they know their heritage, they learn about (where) their grandparents came from," she said.
Batad, who is half-Okinawan and had never been to the festival before, said she had to do double-takes at others there "because they look like our relatives."
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Nilton Matayoshi, a 52-year-old state noxious weed specialist from Kalihi, said the festival helps to raise awareness about Okinawan culture, noting that he has relatives in Okinawa.
From left, sisters Michele Chee, Stacy Yamada and Cheryl Yamada help to make some of the approximately 150,000 andagi to be deep fried and sold during the festival.
"It's kind of important to keep the ties," he said as he stood in line with his mother for shave ice. The festival is a place where he always sees relatives and even co-workers. "Either the husband or the wife is Okinawan," he said.
The festival is designed to raise awareness about Okinawan culture, said Karleen Chinen, co-chairwoman of the festival.
"I don't think we would be happy if everyone here were Okinawans," she said. "We live in a multicultural community and the purpose is to share our culture with other people."
Festival officials estimated about 60,000 people would attend the festival, in part because the first Worldwide Uchinanchu Conference is also set this weekend. About 2,000 Okinawans and "Okinawans-at-heart" from Okinawa, Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand and elsewhere are gathering here for the five-day conference that began Friday.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
