Okinawan Folk Dancing

[@cigarmikey]

finally! I've wondered what this song, or music was. 10 Years ago, I was stationed in Okinawa and went to a cool festival and really enjoyed this music.

[@DeplorableSon1776]

cigarmikey kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5icc6Ckp82FnaM Check out the experiment using this song. Go to 8:12 mark and the look at the whole video

[@JamesKnott]

I'm glad you liked the video. I'll let Satoko-san know that you inspired her.

[@jtno2]

Thanks for posting! I was born in Okinawa but don't remember much since I moved to the US when I was about 3.

[@tjmixmasta]

I was in Okinawa too, about 14 years back, with my father. He was stationed at Kadena AFB.

[@ShisaAi]

i love the sound of okinawan music and the dances ^__^ my mom and i are part of the okinawan group in Pensacola FL. my moms friends do alot of this dancing...i need to try to learn it again

[@MeiraBates]

Oh wow this really brought back memories. I lived in Japan almost 20 years ago when I was a little kid. I've never forgotten so many of the things you've shown here, like this song.

[@KaraShono]

i miss Okinawa... i lived there 10 yrs DX

[@CactusWolf]

My American wife is half Okinawan and half Irish. I am Turkish, Iranian and French, I was a British citizen before becoming an American Citizen. My son has all of the above in him and knows about all the languages and cultures. He is a true American born in California. It is amazing how we are all connected. All in all...

[@ykcamseyer]

Orion.78 brought me here. Beautiful song

[@GlowingGhost94]

Yep. me too ehehehe

[@wenjinweb]

When visit Japan, dont forget to visit Okinawa.

[@JamesKnott]

Do you live in Okinawa? We were just there in October. It was awesome. You should check out my other video about visiting Okinawa. Just search for "James Knott" and "Okinawa" and it should come up. Thanks for the feedback.

[@JamesKnott]

I have several other videos with Okinawan music and one about visiting Okinawa.

[@rontate7719]

Amazing..

[@JamesKnott]

Not sure. Maybe one of our viewers could chime in with the answer, so that I can add the song title to the description.

[@JamesKnott]

@Meira Nihe Debiru! Thanks for watching!

[@JamesKnott]

You should check out my videos on visiting Okinawa. Just search for "James Knott" and "Okinawa".

[@TheFaustianMan]

I am not exactly sure I know what you mean by that. But to clarify: Okinawa>Japan>Korea>China>Mongolia>Himalayas>India I have obviously left out other places or I would have run out of characters. Now, In a very roundabout way yes, it has Indian "roots" but the dance is actually Japanese, despite Okinawans saying otherwise, it comes from a very small island in the west of Japan. As does their skulls and most of their DNA.

[@tjmixmasta]

Alright! Will do. :) Thanks!

[@stevegand]

Wonderful

[@johnmorris008]

Akisamiyoo! Did they use this song in 'TEA HOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON"? Reminds me of a girl named Hatsu Chyan Maeda and many friends I left behind in Okinawa in 1962 and 63. Nifee deebiru. Thanks for the mem'ries and the post. Akabu San.

[@holleymccoy]

When I learned the different dances of Okinawa, my dance teacher told me that Okinawan dance had many influences because the Okinawans were traders - they traded as far as Thailand and India and Korea to the north and would bring back not just goods, but different cultural influences as well. Of course a lot of Chinese influence as before Japan took over Okinawa in the 19th century, the Ryukyuan kingdom was affiliated to China (but not Chinese).

[@JamesKnott]

You should check out my other video about visiting Okinawa. I had a great time visiting. Just search for "James Knott" and "Okinawa" and it should come up. Thanks for the feedback.

[@JamesKnott]

You should check out the other videos that I am making about Okinawa. Just search for "agileh" and "okinawa". Thanks for your feedback.

[@W0nd3rw0m4n]

OKinawans are acutally not really Japanese..Okinawans are actually a mix of mainly Taiwanese and Korean.. They were there own counrty know as the Ryukyu Kingdom and were what we call "flower" people..I dont know if I said that right..There dancing is different from Japanese..I got this little bit of info from my grandma who is Okinawan..BUT I LOVE THIS VIDEO!!!

[@jackjackyphantom8854]

Stop spreading false information! Okinawan are genetically closer to Japanese than Chinese and Korean!

[@tjgarrett462]

sugoi!

[@JamesKnott]

Wow. That's a lot of great info. Thanks for the feedback. This will be helpful to a lot of people. If you want to see more videos about Okinawa, you should do a search for "James Knott" and "Okinawa". I have a bunch posted.

[@JamesKnott]

@Meira It's been a while since I've been there, I think BC street and Gate 2 Street run parallel to each other. Can someone help me out with this?

[@JamesKnott]

@jtno2 You should check out my other Okinawa videos. I did a whole series called "Tour of Okinawa" that you might find interesting.

[@TheFaustianMan]

Yes, your dance teacher would be correct. However, the Japanese still are directly influenced by the Chinese as well. "Kanji" literally translates in archaic Japanese to "Chinese writing". Therefore, one cannot keep the Japanese as separate from the Chinese viz. the Okinawan as well. And furthermore, the scale of the music is already heavily westernized. Thus, this song would be like watching Jpop and thinking it was authentic "Japanese" and had something to do with history..

[@hashiriya23]

I think this is Hatomabushi.

[@MeiraBates]

@AgileHProductions Why'd I only say Japan? I meant Okinawa obviously, heh. I was really close to Kadena Air Base and went to BC street a lot. I heard they changed the name since then though. That's not Gate-2 street is it?

[@dakoata121212]

It appears to.

[@ytcomposer]

Natoma! iya sa sa!

[@tjmixmasta]

interesting. :) I like it alot. (n_n)

[@TheFaustianMan]

"almost directly" is an interesting choice of words. DNA and skull size is empirical. While what you refer to as "court dances" (as the there was technically no courts as the civilization is rather animistic rooted in a prehistory more likely to be shamanism,) are constantly subject to change. Even the scales of the Koto, have been westernized by now. Sorry to say, the culture has changed much, and this dance is no way indicative of the past. Dance does not necessarily define history.

[@batto-mang9972]

Hatoma Bushi

[@ihatomi]

What a pure bucket of BS! Prior to the mid 19th century Japanese influence on Okinawan culture was very minimal and the Okinawans maintained their culture despite the attempted "Japanization" of the Ryukyus. These court dances and traditional music can be traced almost directly to the Chinese, particularly from Taiwan with even more Korean influence than Japanese. You better sign up for Anthropology 101.

[@ariyonempire16]

Some similarity with Malay dance from Malaysia

[@jackjackyphantom8854]

Karate, Arnis and Silat have many similar moves, I think.