August Eisa Dancers

August is the traditional time for the Eisa (Eh-ee-sah) dancers on Okinawa. It was originally a buddhist ritual to drum the dead back to their graves...but now it's more a time for community to form teams to compete, though the teams still parade through EVERY street on the island, even into the wee hours of the night performing the Eisa ceremony.

Some of the pics were from our trip to the main city, Naha, and the Eisa parade which showcased dozens of Eisa teams performing their own renditions of their drum acts.