Fantastic Okinawa

Kumiodori Day

Nothing is more Okinawan than Eisa. Originallythe dance was meant for entertaining spirits ofthe departed during the Buddhist Obon time as socalled “Bon Odori” but it has evolved into a folk

entertainment that is performed, usually by youth groups,as a part of at almost every celebration and festive occa-sion throughout the year.

The largest annual Eisa event, the All Okinawa EisaFestival, is being held over three days this weekend in theself-proclaimed Mecca of Eisa, Okinawa City.

The Eisa Festival shares the venue with the annualOrion Beer Festival from 4 to 9 p.m. on both Saturday andSunday, at the adjacent sub-ground to the Eisa field.

The Eisa festival is divided into three parts. OnFriday, the first day of the event, the Michijunee paradetakes place at Koza Music Town and Gate 2 Street from 6to 9 p.m.

On the second day, Saturday, Okinawa City YouthFestival is held at Okinawa City Koza Sports Park from 3to 9 p.m. It’s an Eisa event, in which local Junior Chamberof Commerce groups’ showcase their original dances on theKoza Sports Park field. 12 groups are scheduled to performincluding guest groups from Tokyo and Ginowan City.

The last day is dedicated to the Island-wide EisaFestival, in which 15 selected high-level Eisa groups fromvarious parts of the island will show Eisa as it’s performed

in each district. As a part of their performance, somegroups have integrated new moves and music to their tradi-tional Eisa. The All Okinawa Eisa Festival runs from 3 to9 p.m. at the Koza Sports Field.

Okinawa City, which has generated countless famousEisa teams over the years, has been hosting the Island-wide Eisa Festival since 1956, and this year’s event is thusthe 60th.

Admission to the Eisa Festival is free, except for seatson the main grandstand. The admission is ¥2,000 inadvance for S Seats, while A seats are ¥1,200. S-seats atthe gate cost ¥2,500 while A-seats are ¥1,500. Watching

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The Japan Memorial DayAssociation has designated the Sep.3 as the Day of Kumiodori, whichis the traditional Okinawan narra-

tive dance. Sep. 3rd was selected as num-ber 9 (September) is “ku” and number 3can be called “mi” in Japanese.

On the first weekend following Sep.

3rd, the Day of Kumiodori, Urasoe Citypresents Urasoe Kumiodori Festival at theNational Theater Okinawa in Urasoe city.Admission to the event is free. The eventfeatures kumiodori performances from tra-ditional to modern. The latter is a“Cinderella Story as Kumiodori” playaimed at people who are not familiar withkumiodori making it easier to follow asmost people are familiar with the story,making it easy to understand and feel whatKumiodori is all about.

There’s also a cinema version ofkumiodori screened at the festival. The cin-ema has English subtitles to make it easy tounderstand for foreign visitors.

In addition to kumiodori, the NationalTheater has other traditional Okinawan cul-tural shows in September. The World Eisa

Festival 2015 will be held at NationalTheater Okinawa and a special outdoorstage in front of the Theater on Sep. 21stand 22nd. Free live kumiodori performanc-es are also staged on both days, as are theCinderella Kumiodori edition andKumiodori cinema.

The Urasoe Kumiodori Festival takesplace this Saturday from 13:30 to 20:00and Sunday from 13:30 to 18:30 at theNational Theater Okinawa large hall. TheWorld Eisa Festival takes place on Sep.21st (Mon.) from 13:30 to 20:00 and on22nd (Tue) from 13:30 – 21:00 at theNational Theater Okinawa.

The National Theater Okinawa islocated just outside of Camp Kinser south-ern back gate (https://goo.gl/maps/WDQ7U). Parking at the theater is free.

Eisa and Orion Beer attract to Okinawa City

September 3 is designated as day for Kumiodori

Kumiodori has scary characters, too.

12 Junior Chamber Eisa groups perform on Saturdaywhile 15 invited groups show their stuff on Sunday.

The Eisa Festival ends with the traditional OkinawanKachashi, and everyone is invited to join in.

Orion campaign girls lead the toast from stage at last year’s Orion Beer Fest.

Sep. 03, 2015 - Sep. 09, 2015

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2Japan Update Classifieds Sep. 03, 2015 - Sep. 09, 2015

Hemp has long history in Japan but now best avoided

By David Higgins

Although I am not anadvocate or user ofcannabis, especiallysince living in Japan for

the past 10 years, I was quiteintrigued with Japan’s history ofmarijuana laws and how theyhave developed over the cen-turies.

The Japanese governmentand general public are extremelyserious about any kind of druguse or abuse. Socially, theJapanese consider illicit drug useas an invitation to deep-rooted

evil and include marijuana as oneof these evil drugs. The society asa whole becomes very upset andalarmed when it is discovered thatsomeone has been caught withmarijuana in his or her posses-sion. In light of this fact, attempt-ing to solicit any ounce of sympa-thy from Japanese society whenmarijuana related issues areinvolved is a practice in futility.

Under the Cannabis ControlLaw in Japan, being caught witheven a small amount of marijuanacan get you a five year prison sen-tence with a chunk of hard laborthrown in for good measure. If

you are lucky and this is your firstoffense, the government has beenknown to be a bit more lenient,and have even been known tolower a sentence to 6 months inrare cases. Foreigners are mostlikely to be deported from thecountry along with the delivery ofa firm message that they willnever ever be welcomed back toJapan again. That’s why PaulMcCartney, who had been knownto dabble with the drug, rarely hasreturned to Japan after a marijua-na related incident that occurredduring a short visit to Japan inJanuary 1980 that sent him direct-ly to a Japanese slammer.

The Japanese Cannabis Lawshave often been referred to as'draconian' but in my opinion,they are quite lenient compared tocannabis laws in other parts ofAsia. Some of our Asian neigh-bors such as China, Malaysia orIndonesia do have draconiancannabis laws when compared tomany western countries. InMalaysia, you can be sentenced to5 years for possession of cannabisand even executed for traffickinglarge amounts.

In several Asian countriesone can end up with a lengthy jailsentence and/or multiple lashingsfor planting cannabis seeds, lifesentence in prison or even deathby firing squad if caught with var-ious amounts of the plant or relat-ed paraphernalia. Saying thatJapan and other Asian countriestake cannabis laws very seriouslyhere is probably the biggestunderstatement of the day.

Up until 1948, cannabis wasactually legal in Japan. Using

historical hemp-woven materialsas evidence, it has been found thatcannabis had been grown as farback as 10,000 years ago. Notonly was cannabis used for itsfibers, but also for Ninja training.The long cannabis sativa plantsmade for perfect plants to practicejumping over.

Traditionally, the leaveswere historically given as smallofferings along the roadsideshrines to ensure safe journeys totravelers passing by, and familieswould even leave bundledcannabis at their doorways andburn them slowly to welcomeback the spirits of the dead.

One question that hasplagued me while sifting throughinformation about the history ofcannabis in Japan was whether ornot it had solely been used for thestrength of its fiber. I am curiouswhether marijuana had ever beensmoked or ingested; enjoyed as arecreational drug or for its’medicinal properties? In theWest, the question about regula-tion of the drug has again rearedits head and this time it is not justabout recreation but rather aboutthe important medicinal proper-ties it holds that seem to outweighthe presence of any negative sideeffects. Through my ownresearch I was not able to find anymention of these practices butfrom my speculation, it surely hadbeen smoked or ingested for bothrecreational and medicinal pur-poses.

China has a longstanding his-tory, in which cannabis was usedin traditional Chinese medicine torelieve pain and insomnia. Surely,

there was a lower potency of theTHC in the ‘marijuana of old,’ alack of the political stigma andnonexistent counter culture popu-larity of marijuana that has growninto the ‘media mecca’ that it istoday.

Following the countriesdefeat in 1945, the US authoritiesoccupying Japan brought withthem the strict American attitudestoward cannabis use and con-sumption. This was the attitudethat marijuana use was an ‘invita-tion to deep-rooted evil.’Washington had outlawedcannabis in 1937 and moved toban it in Japan by passing theCannabis Control Act, which isthe law that remains the basis ofanti-cannabis policy in Japantoday.

It will be interesting to wit-ness how Japan and the rest of theworld adapt their marijuana lawsas the super power of the UnitedStates has begun to experimentwith decriminalization of the drugin selected states.

Currently, Japanese citizensare without the medicinal benefitsof marijuana. Any medicalresearch of the benefits of thecannabis plant must be conductedoutside of Japan. We cannotdetermine exactly how long it willtake for our laws to adapt to newscientific findings but hopefully,those incarcerated under theseregulations will live to see theplant that landed them in jail,become decriminalized. At thatpoint, we will be able to reflectupon our current laws and clearlysee the follies of mankind over aplant.

The best advice one can follow regarding weed in Japan is to stay away.