good harvest, good party

Tom rolled into Okinawa yesterday morning, just in time for Okinawa’s annual Dia de Buena Cosecha –the day of good harvest. This fest is a kickoff for the crop harvest that will take place over the next few weeks. Wheat, rice, and soy are the economic backbone of this jungle-turned-farmland, and the harvest season is, for some, the only payday of the year. So there is much to celebrate.

Picture a county fair, complete with tractors, food vendors, dancing, music, high schoolers hooking up, games, rides, drunks, and weirdoes –but in place of Tim McGraw in the background it’s everyone’s favorite Bolivian tunes. And instead of the bluegrass band on stage, there’s a two hundred strong troupe performing a traditional Japanese drum pounding, feet flying dance marathon. This fest was rockin. Granted, the ferris wheel was made out of an old car axle and turned with a hand crank, but the display of talent, the melding of Japanese and Bolivian culture, and the air of good cheer was knock your socks off delightful. We danced into the night, ate the cotton candy, and woke up with three out of towners on our floor. It was a good party.

One of the Bolivian dance performances at the festival.

A traditional Argentinian dance.

And to celebrate the Japanese side of life, there was a lot of karate going on.

This is a whole lot of people in really cool costumes doing a really impressive dance. Photos dont really do this kind of thing justice.