A couple of shots from yesterday’s dive at Cape Maeda. It was packed with tourists snorkeling out to the blue cave, but deep beneath the surface, it’s much quieter. Not sure what the species in the top photo is, it looked like a small anemone that was yet to have a tenant. The anemone in the image below, however, already had an irate looking occupant.
Yesterday, August 25th, was the Unjami Festival on Kouri Island, Okinawa. It is a time to give thanks to the gods. Wearing wreaths of ryukyu botanzuru (Clematis taiwaniana var. ryukiuensis) village elders lead the prayers and offerings. At 96 years old, Kaneshi Fusae is the most senior of the village elders. Participants and spectators at the festival received some mochi (sticky gelatinous rice cake). After offerings of paper money and Awamori rice liquor at the shrine, 79 year old Toguchi Ayako lead the way down toward the sea. More prayers as we crossed the little road that rings the island. And then finally, on a bluff over looking the ocean, Toguchi-san gave the final blessings. Kaneshi-san was all smiles, another festival completed.
A few shots of the sabani boat race from Kanna Beach in Ginoza last Saturday. Scorching sunlight made for a sweaty couple of hours walking on the beach. On days like this you really want to be in the water, but it was great to get some photos of these beautiful, traditional craft.
Evening beach shoot with Leia and Makoto. Model – Leia Heider Horse – Makoto of Mihara Horse Club of Okinawa Assistant – Pete Leong whose presence literally brightened up my evening.
I’m not diving this weekend but was able to sort out a few more shots from recent dives. Here’s Hiroshi my dive buddy of many years with his camera rig. ( Note the correct use of buoyancy control so that he hovers in the water rather than clambers over the coral. ) And here’s another shot of the fantastic ball of Silver-stripe round herrings that gathered at Cape Maeda the last couple of weeks.
I went down to Naha on Sunday to check out the 10,000 person eisa dance. Surprisingly, the festival begins around 1pm, which unsurprisingly means it was oppressively hot and humid. Parents and leaders of the various groups were trying to keep all the little kids cool with wet towels and drinks but most were looking pretty weary. I pottered around for an hour, met up with some friends, then slunk off to find somewhere cool. This particular Englishman (and his mad dog) have learned to stay out of the midday sun.
On June 30th local teams raced their sabani boats from Zamami Island to Naha Port. The day before I stowed away on a yacht for a ride out to the keramas, and got a few pics of the boats on the day of the race. Haven’t spent much time on sailboats before, but we had glorious (perhaps a little too sunny) weather all weekend. Camped on Zamami on the Saturday night, then at 6AM we were back on the yacht for the race. Using both wind and muscle power, the little sabani turned out to be much faster than our boat. I got a few pics at the start and then we made our own, very leisurely, way back east to mainland Okinawa.
Perfect beach, perfect pool. Sometimes we are faced with tough decisions. Unfortunately, the reality was that on that day, I didn’t have time to swim in the pool or ocean. I was too busy checking the price of parking, noting down amenities and working out how to geo-tag the location. I’ll be back…
Another nice bridge on Miyako Island. Ideally, I’d like a classic car in the foreground, possibly a Volkswagen Beetle convertible with some sufboards in the back. Maybe next time 🙂
A few shots of Miyuki in her belly dancing costume, after completing the Chandelier Boutique shoot. Miyuki is a member of the Moon Roses belly dancing group that regularly performs on Okinawa.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 