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Over one thousand years ago, the art of yabusame, or Japanese archery performed on horseback, was used in battle during the era of the Japanese samurai. During the Kamakura Period, archery on horseback was used as a military training exercise to keep samurai prepared for war. Those archers who did poorly might find themselves commanded to commit seppuku, or ritualistic suicide.
Images from the quiet area of Okinawa known as Katsuren. The most traveled part of Katsuren is Katsuren Castle, yet the area surrounding Katsuren Castle is covered in sugarcane farms and beautiful beaches that line the western side of the island of Okinawa. Pictured below is an 80-year-old sugarcane farmer in Katsuren Village.
Sefa Utaki is the most sacred site on Okinawa and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Utaki is a hogen (or Uchinaguchi, the language of the Ryukyus) word that means "a place enshrining the gods." Okinawans believe that gods descend to utaki and individuals can communicate with them there through villages and festivals.
The word Yanbaru means "mountains and trees". This word is used to describe the area of northern Okinawa where the rolling hills and covered with dense forests of trees. Between these mountains lay farmland that remains preserved far out of the eye of modern day Okinawa. Beautiful vistas can be seen all throughout Okinawa's northern Yanbaru. 
Bise is a small area in northern Okinawa best known for it's Fukugi trees that line sandy paths through a village that is hundreds of years old. These trees serve as protection from strong typhoon winds. 
The Okinawa island of Kourijima. This island is surrounded by emerald green waters and only became accessible by bridge in recent years. Kourijima features only a small fishing port and most of the island is covered in sugarcane and open fields. 
Nago is the largest city on the northern portion of Okinawa. Located just to the south and east of Motobu Peninsula, it is home to several small museums, a brewery, and many ecological attractions. 
Eisa performances can be seen on during obon, the holiday where the spirits return to dine with Okinawan families, but Eisa battles are events that traditionally occured when two Eisa groups would cross paths and battle one another for performance superiority. Alternatively you may also catch Eisa battles on the streets, after midnight, when the groups square off after a day of performances.
Festivals in Japan have always been part of a greater religious meaning. Festivals in Japan, which date back to the late first-century A.D., have come to represent expressions of the soul, life, death, and the divine nature of being. These combine for the foundation of the meaning of true matsuri. There is no place in Japan that holds the true spirit of matsuri in greater regard, than the island of Okinawa. 
