Okinawa Day in London - An interview with the organizers

Okinawa Day London is an annual event that showcases Okinawa culture, art and tradition in the heart of London's east end. It is an admission free community event and organized together with the Spitalfields art & community program.

Okinawa Day London 2014 is due to take place on June 21 and will include Okinawan music and dance workshops, arts and crafts shows from Okinawa, karate performances, food stalls including Buku Buku Cha (Okinawa Tea ceremony) and Awamori (Okinawan liquor) and finally, travel information.

Last year's event was a huge success, with over 8,000 people visiting and this year is set to be even bigger. Everyone is welcome, and with that in mind, I went to find out more from Mihoko Ogawa-Higgins, one of the event's organizers.

What is the event and the background to it?

Okinawa Day 2014 (we change the title year after year, for example, Okinawa Day 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 etc) is a free outdoor family event in London to introduce Okinawan culture holistically and celebrate the diversity of Okinawan culture inside the UK.

Okinawa Day is a dynamic development from Okinawa Music Day at the Café Oto, which was a huge success in June 2009. Due to such success, Okinawa Day has now grown to a much bigger scale and since 2010 we have collaborated with a venue partner, Spitalfields, which has vast experience in hosting very popular events such as the annual Spitalfields Music Festival and the Japan Matsuri.

Our program includes performing arts such as Ryukyu classic court music, Okinawan folk music, Eisa dance and karate performance. Also there are several Okinawan food stalls which sell Awamori (Okinawan liquor), Goya champuru (stir-fried Okinawan bitter melon), Sata Andagi (fried doughnuts), Okinawa soba (Okinawan noodle) and so on. In addition, we will have Okinawan arts and crafts stalls and an Okinawa travel information desk which displays the wide selections of practical travel guides and maps. How has the local community responded to Okinawan culture arriving in London's East End?

We have received very positive responses from the local community who are have been really keen to embrace the cultural diversity in London. That is the important reason why Spitalfields, our venue partner, would like to collaborate with us to showcase the energy and dynamism of multi-cultural events in east London. Our event is now part of their Spitalfields Estate Community Events Program.

What is the Okinawan community like in London? Do many people get involved?

The Okinawan community in UK has mainly consisted of London Okinawa Sanshinkai (ロンドン沖縄三線会) and Okinawan Association UK (英国沖縄県人会) who have co-hosted Okinawa Day since 2009. The Okinawan community in the UK is very connected and active (compared with other Japanese communities in London). As far as we understand, we are the only such community in the UK which has managed to hold an annual event like Okinawa Day consistently. Also, distinctively a lot of people including families with young children have got involved in our activities such as weekly Sanshin and Eisa dance practice and this then also leads them on to other cultural events such as Japan Matsuri, Hyper Japan and so on.

What has been the response among the Okinawan artists whom you have invited to showcase at the event?

We have not actually managed to invite artists from Okinawa yet due to the lack of funding. However, some artists from Okinawa have kindly agreed to participate in Okinawa Day at their own cost. They are really happy with Okinawa Day and are always keen to come back again in the future. We feel so privileged to be able to see their work and performances in London.

Okinawan culture is its own distinct thing, separate from that of mainland Japan. Do you think it's important to highlight that?

Yes, it is very important to display that identity through cultural and social activities. Not just things such as Sanshin and Eisa dance practices but also the celebration of the Okinawan New Year (usually several weeks after the mainland’s New Year) and other arts.

In addition to Okinawa Day, it is crucial for the Okinawan community in the UK to pass down its essential values to the younger generation that grows up here, so they can keep in touch with Okinawa even though they do not live there.

What do you think makes Okinawan culture so special?

Okinawa is not just about blue sky and blue ocean. It is about people, history, culture, food and more importantly, their pride toward being Okinawan - something you will never be able to see in other areas of Japan.

I’m a big fan of the event and hope people from London, the UK and further afield will enjoy it. What is your message, as creators, of the event?

Please join us to embrace the allure of Okinawa at Okinawa Day in London. We all will be waiting for you with a glass of Awamori.

Find out more about the event, including how to access it, by visiting Okinawa Day London here.

This story originally appeared in Surging Fist.

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