Nisei Week Parade | Okinawa Bon Dance | 島や若夏 (沖縄盆踊り)

60+ volunteers represented the Okinawa Association of America in the 2012 Nisei Week Grand Parade! Approx. 36 of them wore kasuri pattern kimonos and danced to choreographed Okinawan and Japanese Bon-Odori!

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Producer's Note: This video pieces together footage from the OAA's full parade route circling Little Tokyo. Since the dancers had to repeat the same 2 songs for the entire duration of the parade, I was able to film each dance from various angles. In the end, 40+ minutes of video has been condensed into two 3-minute montages (2nd video coming soon).

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- choreographed by Miyagi Nosho and Keiko Yonamine
- filmed and edited by Joseph Yoshimasu Kamiya
- filmed on August 12, 2012 in Little Tokyo [Downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.]
- music: 島や若夏 [Shima ya Wakanatsu]
- ippei nifwee deebiru [thank you very much]: OAA volunteers, the Geinobu (Performing Arts Committee), and the Nisei Week Foundation

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The Okinawa Association of America, Inc. (OAA) is a 501c(3) nonprofit corporation. Its mission is to promote the Okinawan culture, to assist social and educational advancement of the members, and to contribute to local and international cultural exchanges. Currently about 700 families and individuals belong to the Association! To learn more about the OAA and to become a member, please visit http://www.oaamensore.org or "like" us on Facebook:   / 100833695609  

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Who were the Nisei? First general chairman of Nisei Week was Clarence Arima, his co-chairman was Kay Sugahara. Arima was the Nisei manager of the Issei-owned Union Paper Supply Co. Sugahara was owner of Universal Foreign Service, a customs brokerage firm. Names in the first Nisei Week program identify the nucleus of the organizing team: Seiichi Nobe, John Ando, Tetsu Ishimaru, John Maeno, Sue Ando, Ruby Sakai, Etsu Sato, Msao Igasaki, Yogoro Takeyama, John Yahiro. They were more than 10 years older than most Nisei. Established in their vocations, they were a Little Tokyo Nisei leadership group. John Maeno, who became chairman of the third Nisei Week, wrote in his program: "The Nisei is a new American. Racially of the Orient, he is true and loyal citizen of the United States, his native land. Young, ambitious, hopeful, though at times oppressed, he seeks to take his place in civic development and community progress." This J.A.C.L. message became a fixture. It was interspersed with the commercial marketing thrust of Issei shopkeepers. Nisei Week became an instrument not only to revive and revitalize Little Tokyo's economic base, but to expose the non-Japanese audience out there to the Nisei's message that the successors to the Issei were a generation of Americans. For more information, please visit http://niseiweek.org or "like" us on Facebook:   / niseiweek