Okinawan culture took over the Blue Market, Bermondsey on Saturday for the annual celebration of the Okinawan islands.
A global festival, Okinawa Day aims to share the region’s distinct culture through music, dance and food.
The Blue Market in Bermondsey has hosted the event in the U.K since 2022, using the square to put on a variety of traditional music and performances.
Paul Wady, an event volunteer, told me: “Common humanity, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
“Our country has always embraced new cultures. The Okinawan, and all the Japanese people in London – this experience, this is our culture now. This is all part of the great British experience.”
The London Okinawa Sanshinkai put on performances across the day, a group who learn and perform the culture’s music and dance.
They also received support from guest performers who flew in from Japan especially for the event.
These performances featured traditional Okinawan instruments such as the sanshin, a 3-stringed lute and the taiko, a stick drum.
The group also performed Eisa, a folk dance that sees those involved dance in circles alongside drumming, chanting and singing.
Though an annual event, the group practices all through the year in the run-up to the event.
The late Dr David W. Hughes, a musician and teacher at SOAS University of London, introduced these traditional arts to the U.K.
Attendees celebrated his memory during the event.
Otis, a member of the London Okinawa Sanshinkai said: “We learnt our performance, the Eisa from Sonda. The well known Okinawan dance group.
“David sensei invited them here to teach us how to do it back in 2004. They performed at the Thames festival – they did a massive procession.”
“I want people to know about the culture and tradition – the beauty of the Okinawan language, which is endangered.”
A South London based karate club, Meibukan Goju-Ryu London also put on a demonstration.
Meibukan Goju-Ryu London show the crowd traditional Okinawan techniques. Image: Ben Matthews
Karate has direct ties with Okinawa, originating from the Ryukyu kingdom, which later became recognised as the Okinawa islands.
Indigenous island martial-arts and Chinese helped shape the system as a result of the islands being a trading route in feudal Japan.
The organisers gave special thanks to the late Russel Dryden, one of the founders of the Blue’s Business Improvement District (BID).
Bermondsey Blue BID are responsible for putting on a variety of free events in the marketplace across the calendar year, driving footfall and business to local shops and market stalls.
Main image credit: Ben Matthews
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