Each year after the festival of Obon in August, the people in the Ryukyu islands in the Okinawa prefecture of Japan hold an Eisa Festival. While in Tokyo on Saturday, Kelly and I enjoyed early eisa, a traditional form of dance, performances on the streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Eisa features vibrant costumes and three types of drums, which gets my percussionist-side excited. First, there is the ōdaiko, which is the largest of the drums and, as usual, also drives the beat.
Next follows the shimedaiko, which is a double-sided, medium-sized drum complete with decorative edges.
And finally, the paranku is the smallest of the drums.
Both of the smaller drums offer the effect of a snare drum: lighter, snappier, an accent to the downbeat. Eisa also features a sanshin, which is the banjo-like, three stringed instrument that provides the melody. The player often also sings lines to a song, which are often echoed as a chant by the drummers and dancers.
In addition, there is another interesting character in an eisa performance.
A chondara or gajangani is painted like a clown and entertains the crowd, often leading the eisa performing group in a loud series of whistles. Altogether, eisa has a really catching sound and is very fun to watch (links are to videos I took).
While at the festival on Saturday, Kelly and I watched four groups, including a group of mentally handicapped students who performed quite well.
They also got my award for most crowd participation. We also saw groups of college-aged students and, my personal favorite, a very large group of children. They were so talented for their young age! I especially enjoyed the way they hopped as they turned to face another side of the crowd.
The World Through My Lens 