Itoman Hare History
On the 4th day of the 5th month on the lunar calendar, Hare (a.k.a. Hari) festivals are held throughout Okinawa. The Itoman Hare Festival has an especially deep connection with the religious life of Itoman’s fishermen. The style of the ceremonies preformed as a part of Itoman Hare have been handed down through generations of fishermen in their traditional form since long ago.
There is no clear record of the origins of the Itoman Hare, but the Kyuho, a book about the history of Ryukyu written in 1745, contains the following three theories:(Ⅰ) Chinese people who came to Ryukyu raced dragon boats in Naha Bay.
(Ⅱ) A person called Nagahama Daiyu learnt about dragon boat racing in Nanjing, China. After returning to Ryukyu he made dragon boats and started races in the beginning of May.
(Ⅲ) The King of Nanzan’s younger brother O Oso studied abroad in Nanjing, China. Upon returning to Ryukyu he became the Lord of Tomigusuku Castle. Oso made dragon boats like he had seen in China and started having boat races in the inlet below his castle in early May. In Naha, Kume and Tomari Village people began to copy his races. It’s written that these villages would invite the Tomigusuku priestess to pray at their local sacred place before their boat races.
After O Oso was crowned the King of Nanzan in 1403, the boat races that had been held in the inlet below the Tomigusuku Castle were moved to the Nanzan trading port in Itoman. To pray for safe trade voyages with China the Nanzan priestess would perform the Ugwan Bare ceremony at the Santin sacred place near Itoman port. ＜The Ugwan Bare Ceremony＞
The Ugwan Bare ceremony is performed at the beginning of the race day. In a tradition handed down through the ages the Aza Ozato Nanzan priestess comes to act as master of ceremonies and the Itoman priestess, local kaminchu (priests) and representatives of munchu patrilineal family clans attend. After prayers to the Sea God for safe ocean voyages and a prosperous year are completed, the flag waving ceremony to signal the beginning of Ugwan Bare is held. The Ugwan Bare boats are lined up in the port waiting for the signal to start. In an ancient ritual the Ugwan Bare and Agai Subu boats go out and circle the village boat three times.
The flag waving ceremony to begin Ugwan Bare is held on Santimo Hill. The Nanzan King bestowed the Yago and Tokuya family clans the duty of flag bearers and still today their descendants continue the duty. Each family and clan proudly performs its duty. It is said that the flag the Nanzan King gave the Tokuya family when he granted them the role of flag bearers was passed down from generation to generation. However, because it was burned in the Battle of Okinawa a post-war replica is now used.
＜The Chinese Period’s Boat Races and the Itoman Hare＞
There are no dragon decorations on the Itoman hare bune (boats). According to a report titled Annual Events of Various Countries, edited by the Japanese Railroad Ministry in 1940, in the Fujian region of China there is a boat race where the boats do not have dragon decorations. It seems there was even a duck-catching race. During China’s Nanzan period, a tributary ship route passed through the Min River.Duck-catching races were held on the banks of this river.
According to the National Ethnology Museum’s research report, volume II, issue #1, “The tale of the Dragon God (Dragon Woman) and the Dragon Boat Festival,” in the past in China boats had been decorated with images of waterfowl. The waterfowl were flying against the wind. It’s said this brought luck by placating the water god. An old copper drum unearthed at Mt. Shizhai in Jinning county, Yunnan province, China, is decorated with a boat pattern that looks very much like Itoman’s Ugwan Bare. Like Itoman’s sabani the boats in the pottern have no dragon designs on them. Also like the Itoman Hare buni (boat), the boats have wave patterns drawn on them. The rowers in the pattern have birds’ wings flowing from their heads and, like in the Itoman Hare, the helmsmen navigates without the use of a scull. Also, a defi is standing in the middle of the boat. The picture looks exactly like Ugwan Bare. There are even waterfowl that look like ducks swimming around the boats.
Copper drum with boat pattern unearthed at Mt. Shizhai, Jinning county, Yunnan province (Source: Ryotoku Shimabukuro).
According to the research paper, “Study of copper drum unearthed in Jinning county, Yunnan province”, published in China’s Culture and Civilization record, the boats on the copper drum are long, narrow and light-weight. It’s noted that these boats and the oarsmen resemble the boat races held today in the Yangtze River basin. It’s quite plausible that the race shown in this boat pattern is the origin of the Itoman Hare.
The festival date
June23,2012(Saturday)
June23,2012(Saturday)