Field Study Report: Okinawa 010304 (Part 2)
		On the new year's day of 2004, I started early in the morning to joining the group of Yushigwah performers and practice my sanshin skills. Sanshin is a local banjo-like instrument, and I have been practicing it for some time now on my own. Occasions such as this is a great opportunity for me to brush up my skills under the guidance of local maestros.			Ancestral worship is repeatedly practiced throughout the year, and it is called "ugan" which can be translated into the Japanese word "ogamu" meaning "to worship." This is a scene from ugan at home on the new year's day, which invited Azusa's family ancestors to join the living members in celebrating the coming of a new year.
					Ugan extends from home to the village ritual. This particular rite is called "kawa ugan," the purpose of which is to commemorate local river gods that are believed to have brought life to the village and continues to protect the well-being of the villagers. Female members are chosen each year to play their roles as shamans. On the third day into the new year, these ritual performers lead the villagers to prayer sites that stand along several streams that run through the village. They give offering to the gods in these sacred places, and these offerings include rice and local wine called "shima" (which is the local referent for "awamori").
		My duty for this day was to acquire a traditional song called "Nanyoh Hamachidori" that may be translated as "The Song of plovers by the sea." This song uses plovers - a commonly seen specie of birds in the area of Yushigwah - as a symbol to signify the local way of life. The song is one of a well-known titles throughout Okinawa, but there was such a thing as local version.
		"As a Yushigwahan, you are born into sanshin, and your sanshin skills must be soaked into your skin!" - this is what my maestros told me in order to encourage my sanshin practices. I came back to my hideout, and repeated my practice all day long, having the beloved idol of Azusa's family, Rocky, by my side as my audience.
					The climax of the third-day kawa-ugan ritual is an event called "duhdui," which is a horse-riding rite of passage. The horse is made of a stingy log and a chosen male is to ride in order to be blessed by the gods with fertility. I had the honor to get a ride this year! Three villagers carried me in the air for approximately 500 meters between a local shrine that was located at the east-end of the village to the village's central plaza. They and the rest of participants that followed us shouted "Duhdui! Duuh'dui!!" I had to bear the pain between my knees for some time as the carriers shook me up and down and from right to left in the air. The pain lasted for several days. Throughout the event, male participants around me encouraged me with teasing smiles on their faces, saying "You are blessed by the gods of fertility! You will have many healthy children!" To me it was a nice occasion of being officially initiated into the village. Female participants were all looking at us from a distance with smiles on their faces, too.
		Creating an elaborate hours d'hoeuvre plate to be offered to family ancestors is one fun event on the new year's day. Azusa's families and I boiled lobsters, fried fishes and baked chickens, arranging the plate as creatively but also in accordance with the traditional code of arrangement as we could. This is not to mention our cooking of potato and pork dishes. Pork and potato constitute two of the most significant genres of food in Okinawa. Azusa's family is no exception in practicing the rite of "pigs and potatoes for the ancestors."
					The new year's event ended with a gathering at the Yushigwah Community Center. Villagers sat around the table full of foods and drinks, and chatted with each other as they enjoyed watching other villagers perform on stage. Yushigwah is known to be the village of performances, and there is a strong sense of heritage among the members of the village. I enjoyed sharing this sense as well as the feeling of solidarity that would not be easily eroded by the ever-apparent and inevitable forces of globalization in the area.

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