Fantastic Okinawa

Torii Beach Caribbean Party

10000 Eisa dancers to take over Kokusai Street Aug. 2Rhythmic sounds of drums

fill the air on Aug. 2ndas thousands of dancersof all ages from some 70

groups will march along KokusaiStreet in Naha in a four-hour longprocession. Along with thedancers, tens of thousands ofspectators will fill the 1.6-kilome-ter-long street.

In addition to the groups,public can also participate, asabout 1,000 individuals and unof-ficial groups can join the paradeby signing up on the day of theevent starting 10 a.m. at a counterset up at the open space in frontof the Okinawa Prefectural OfficeBuilding. A ¥1,000 fee is requiredto participate.

On the day of the event,Kokusai Street is closed for trafficfrom noon to 6:30 p.m. Theparade is scheduled to begin at 1p.m. In the case of an inclementweather, the even will be post-poned to following Sunday, Aug.9th.

During the parade, thedancers proceed down theKokusai Street starting from SaionSquare and ending at PaletteKumoji, stopping at 10 pre-desig-nated stages along the way toshow their stuff to the public.

The 10,000 Eisa Festival hasbeen organized since 1995. It isone of two major festivals takingplace in downtown Naha eachyear. The second is the ‘NahaTsunahiki,’ the giant tug-of-war,coming up in October.

Participating youth groupsinclude Sobe in Yomitan,Minami-ku in Kadena, Horikawain Nanjo, Tokeshi in Yomitan,Youth Association of Ogimi,Asato in Yaese, Heshikiya inUruma, Tengan-ku in Uruma,

Matsushima in Naha andArakawa in Haebaru.

Although the participants areamateurs, the Eisa groups certain-ly present a professional appear-ance and sound, the colorful uni-

forms and intense dance move-ments striking a chord echoingOkinawa’s historical past andpresent.

Getting ThereTraveling south on Highway

58 to Naha, turn left at any of themajor intersections after passingthe Tomari Port / Tomarin Hotel.Kokusai is about one-half kilome-ter away.

Traffic will be heavy, and

parking farther away from theKokusai Street area itself is rec-ommended. No free parking isavailable in the area, and fees forparking lots have to be paid inyen.

Torii Beach is pulling out all thestops, as Army Morale, Welfareand Recreation turns the beach intoa Caribbean party village for its

biggest event of the summer that is open toeveryone this Friday and Saturday.

Nothing’s beats the beach, says ArmyMWR, and as the sun sets on the horizon,tiki torches and colorful lights will illumi-nate the beach and even some of the oceanunder water.

Plenty of Caribbean dishes andrefreshing drinks are on the menu. Reggaeand tunes by Beach Boys and JimmyBuffet set the mood starting 19:00 and theatmosphere gets even thicker withKachimba taking on he stage with its hotsalsa rhythms.

Fireworks will shoot up in the air onboth evenings at 21:45, and then the partyreally gets going, as top local DJ’s get into

action spinning their best and most excitingdance and party tunes for people to dancethe night away by the sea and under shin-ing stars all the way to the midnight.

No personal alcoholic beverages, food,glass, pets or canopies are permitted onTorii Beach. Admission is free and is opento the entire community. Don’t drink anddrive. Taxis and daiko services are ready tomake sure everyone gets home safely.

Torii Beach changes into Caribbean paradise for two nights

Party is on this Friday and Saturday at Torii Beach Caribbean Party.

Thousands of Eisa dancers representing about 70 Eisa groups from vatious parts of the island plus some 1,000 others who just want to joinwill parade along Kokusai Street in Naha in the annual 10000-dancer Eisa on August 2.

Jul. 23, 2015 - Jul. 29, 2015

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2Japan Update Classifieds Jul. 23, 2015 - Jul. 29, 2015

Helios Pub campaign features all-local ingredientsLocal craft beer restau-

rant Helios Pub onKokusai Street inNaha is currently

conducting a special cam-paign called “Awatto BeerSte” that refers to awamori,beer and steaks that are allgrown and produced onOkinawa.

During the campaigncustomers can enjoy Helioscraft beer, awamori, cock-tails, rum, plum liquor (Ume-shu) and more for drinks, andOkinawa’s brand-name beefsteak and pork dishes for only¥2,980 (tax not included) asmuch as they can stuff intothemselves in 90 minutes!!

The beef is JapaneseA5/A4 class Wagyu beefwhile pork dishes are madewith Okinawan Aguu porkthat is an original Okinawanbrand and regarded through-out Japan as very high-classpork. The meals includeJapanese beefsteaks, Japanesebeef hamburgers, Aguu porksteaks and Japanese beefchopped steaks.

Those who visit the pubduring the campaign ingroups of four or more, canorder a giant thick Japanesebeefsteak that can be dividedamong the group or Aguupork steak with bone, also avery substantial dish.

The motto of Helios Co.is “Local products for localconsumption,” and in linewith their motto, everythingfrom Helios’ alcoholic drinksto dishes served in the pub ismade using local ingredients.

Helios Pub is located onKokusai Street in Naha, themost famous street onOkinawa, about halfwaybetween Saion Square andPalette Kumoji. Access to thepub is easy by bus or cab, andfor those who come by theirown car, pay parking is avail-able just around the corner.

Helios has not decidedhow long it will run the cam-paign, so it’s best to visit as

soon as possible. The pub isopen 11:30 to 23:00 on week-days Monday thru Thursdayand Sunday, and 11:30 –24:00 on Friday andSaturday. Helios Pub phonenumber is 098-863-7227 andlocation on Google mapshttps://goo.gl/kBZ8io

A jumbo-size Wagyu steak canbe shared by groups of four.Helios is a well-known brewer of craft beers.

Who would not rememberplaying with water gunson hot summer days whengetting a little wet was

only welcome as it brought relief fromthe relentless sun besides being greatfun.

Everyone can relive those daysagain, and have a chance to earn a niceprize at the same time during GinowanHagoromo Festival on Sunday, Aug. 9th. The Hagoromo Festival water gunbattle has two categories. One is forgeneral public, and the other for ele-mentary school-age children. 16 teamswill battle in each category.

For the competition, participantsput two paper targets called ‘poi’ ontheir head. The targets are like ascooper for goldfish scooping at festi-vals. The winner is the team whose

member’s ‘poi’ remains intact last.The prize for the winning team in

the general category for persons ofjunior high school age and older is adeluxe gift card worth ¥50,000. Theelementary school kids compete for a¥25,000 book store gift card.

The participation fee per team inthe general category is ¥1,000, whileelementary school children’s teamspay ¥500. Teams must register for thecompetition in advance. The deadlineis Thursday, Jul. 30. The teams needto turn in the application sheet to theorganizing office by FAX at 098-897-0769, e-mail at mensoreginowan@gmail.com, or in person at GinowanCity Tourism Promotion AssociationOffice at 558-18 Bayside InformationCenter, Uchidomari, Ginowan.

Each team consists of three to

five persons. The number of teams islimited to 16 in both categories. Theparticipants can use only a gun that theorganizers prepare, and they mustwear goggles or sunglasses during thecontest.

Details of the event and the appli-cation sheet in Japanese is ath t t p : / / w w w . m e n s o r e -g i n o w a n . n e t / i n c l u d e /netcommons_file.php?path=/announcement/1/%BF%E5%C5%B4%CB%A4%A5%C1%A5%E9%A5%B7%A1%F5%CA%E7%BD%B8%CD%D1%BB%E615.7.3.pdf

The competition starts at noon onSunday, Aug. 9th, and continues until3 p.m. It takes place at HagoromoFestival multi-purpose space atGinowan Seaside Park next toOkinawa Convention Center.

Hagoromo Fest invites sharpshooters for water gun contest

Each team consists of three to five members, and thewinning team is the one whose member has the lastintact target on his or her head.

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