Hello, Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai members, I hope that you are

Hello, Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai members,
I hope that you are enjoying the summer and doing well. The annual picnic had
many attendees and the good weather helped us. There were fun games, prizes,
and dances, seeing friends, and meeting newcomers while eating delicious foods.
It was nice meeting you in person.
The picnic was a success with the help of many volunteers. This was my first
Kenjinkai event as an officer and would have been disaster without volunteers,
officers, and most of all your participation.
I have very sad news. Our Treasurer Alicia Berenz suddenly passed away August
7th, 2009. She was only 24 years old. She worked hard at the annual picnic
greeting attendees with a beautiful smile, updating the member list, collecting
membership fees, and other tasks. We were excited to have one of our Okinawan
youth joining the ranks as an officer.
One responsibility as Treasurer is preparing the financial statement for our newsletter. Please understand we
are not posting the financial statement in this edition. We will post the statement and announce a new
Treasurer in the next newsletter. We will get through this difficult time with you. Our thoughts and prayers are
with her family.
Sincerely yours, Mieko Zukeran
シカゴ沖縄県人会の皆様、
チャ、ガンジュウシミソーミ。（皆さん、お元気ですか。）恒例のピクニックは天候に恵まれ、役１００人の沢山の
メンバーの参加で盛大でした。 ゲーム、景品、踊りと盛り沢山と友達や新メンバーとユンタク（話）をし、美味し
い料理を食べながら交流を深める事ができたかと思います。会長して最初のイベントでしたので、皆様の参加と寄
付、ボランテヤの方々、役員のご協力のおかげで、無事実施できました。 大変有難う御座いました。
皆様に大変悲しいニュースをお知らせ致します。 シカゴ沖縄県人会役員会計担当のアリシア．べレンズさんが８月
７日突然他界しました。 享年２４歳でした。彼女は、ピクニックの時に受付で笑顔で皆様を迎え、会費集め、メン
バーリストの更新、その他色々と忙しく活動してました。 又、財務諸表をニュースレターに載せるのもアリシアが
担当してました。 将来の若者メンバーの中心人物に成長の期待が持たれていたので大変残念です。 彼女の短い人
生を祝い、謹んで冥福をお祈り致します。
今回は財務諸表は掲載しませんので皆様のご理解を請けたまれば有難く存じます。
皆様、ご健康に気を付けてお元気で。 次に会うのを楽しみにしてます。
瑞慶覧美江子
会長
By Vice President Linda Everitt
Our annual Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai picnic held on July 25, 2009 was yet another
successful event! Dennis Potamites with his set-up/break-down crew did a
wonderful job in assuring our event would run smoothly. It was a beautiful day,
after some of the clouds went away and everyone enjoyed themselves, partaking in
the generous amounts of food and activities with fun prizes.
A big THANK YOU to Yukie Saucedo for creating and organizing games for the
children as well as the adults. The fishing game had kids tittering with joy, as did
the relay race. Thank you to all the volunteers who assisted with the games! Yukie
also led us in the RAJIO TAISO, which brought almost all of us to our feet for a little
stretching exercise common in Okinawa parking lots in the early mornings.
The raffle was a big success as people were battling for the grand prizes. Up for
grabs this year was an electric fish broiler, a Sony multi region DVD player and a
Nintendo Wii entertainment system. Laughter could be heard from all corners of the
picnic grove. Congratulations, to all of you who won prizes!
An impromptu sanshin session happened under the awning, with the familiar sounds floating across the picnic
area. Line dance lessons took place and obon dances were rehearsed as well. The taiko group
practiced/performed to the attentive crowd. Joy spread across the lawn as our children's taiko group, which
has been organized by Minori Yamaki, performed for those in attendance.
Many familiar faces were present and we welcomed new members and friends to our ever-expanding
"family". Thank you for participating and joining in on the "fun in the sun"! We know some of you have come
from afar as well as neighboring towns. If you missed this year's picnic, we hope you can join us next year-look for the new date for 2010 in a future newsletters or on our web site at www.chicagookinawakenjinkai.com.
Please view some of our 2009 picnic happenings put together by Tom Corrao on our website.
By: Dr. G. P. Yeh
High Energy Physicist, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Okinawa Uchina Goodwill Ambassador
The people, leaders, and friends of Okinawa in
Japan, together with the United States and other
worldwide participants have been working together
towards a great, wonderful future for Okinawa. In the
year 2000, Okinawa Governor Inamine enabled five
graduate students to study at Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois. Then in
2001, Japan’s Finance Minister Omi announced a
mission to create a new graduate university in
Okinawa. Since then Governor Inamine and Governor
Nakaima, along with Commanding General of Marine
Corps forces Japan, General and Mrs. Gregson, and
other leaders as well as the people of Okinawa, have
been creating a new International School and
improving the teaching of English in Okinawa’s
schools.
Because of their efforts, Okinawa is
becoming a great and beautiful centerpiece to Asia.
The Japanese Governments, Finance Minister Omi, Former Governor Inamine, Governor Nakaima, the
people of Okinawa, and other leaders of Japan, as well as many worldwide leaders of science including 15
Nobel Laureates, have been creating Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) to be a world class
graduate university. The objectives of OIST are to contribute to the worldwide advancement of science and
technology and create a leading intellectual hub in the Asia-Pacific region. The key concepts of OIST are the
best in the world, Flexible, International, Global networking, and Industry collaboration. The Okinawa Institute
of Science and Technology School Corporation Act stipulates the establishment of the Graduate University as an
independent special school corporation, and enables OIST to open in 2012. (http://www.oist.jp)
Many of the alumni of Christ King School in Okinawa have been very
successful in arts, sciences, medicine, business, education, and family
lives in the US, Canada, Philippines, Guam, Japan, Okinawa, and
other parts of the world.
Okinawa has enriched our lives in many
ways. Thanks to Okinawa, Christ the King School was very special
and provided the students with an excellent international education.
For example, In 1967 I personally came from Taiwan to Okinawa
entering Christ King School without knowing the English or Japanese
languages. Thanks to the great principals, teachers and classmates at
Christ King School I made it through. In 1971, I was accepted to MIT
and then started a wonderful journey in physics, science, technology,
and education. I now enjoy the Universe and life on Earth.
In support of Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Governor Nakaima is establishing Okinawa Amicus
International School (OAIS) for children both in Okinawa and from abroad. Students graduating from the
Okinawa Amicus International School should have the ability and skills to enter the best universities in US or
Japan. (http://www.amicus-okinawa.jp) OIST and graduates of OAIS will help to improve science and
technology, advance important progress in sustainable, safe, clean energy, food and water, climate and
environment, disease control and medical treatment, education, and world collaboration. The people of Okinawa
are already enjoying the world's highest longevity, and plan to have the best healthcare and best life. Okinawa
Amicus International School and Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology will provide Okinawa with a great
and wondrous future.
By Keith Graff
Eisa dancing is big on Okinawa. Kids of all ages as well as
adults are involved in this tradition, that dates back to
time immemorial. In Japan, Eisa dancing is associated with
the Bon holidays. In most prefectures across the region, it
takes place a day or two before the three-day holiday and
lasts through the final day of the celebration.
The origin of Eisa in mainland Japan traces its roots back
to Buddhist traditions wherein it is believed that for three
days the spirits of the ancestors come back to walk the
earth and be with their families. The dancing is believed to
console the souls of the dead as well as honor them. In
Okinawa, Taoist style Ancestors worship is the stronger
influence. This is a hold over from the days when they
were and independent kingdom with very close ties to
China.
Here on tiny Okinawa, where the people have always marched to the beat of a different drummer, the Eisa season
begins much earlier than mainland Japan. Many of us who live here notice gatherings of young people at the local
community centers, parks or schools beginning in sometime in late June. By early July, the night air is filled with
the sounds of Taiko Drums and chanting. Eisa dancers wear brightly colored traditional garb as they perform. As
they beat the drums, they chant and dance to the rhythm of the music. Some groups get quite athletic to the point
of almost being acrobatic in their jumps and shouts.
By mid July, street festivals are starting and the groups (Some organized by their community and others organized
by their employers) are meeting and competing against each other to see who has the best Eisa. By the end of
July, whole cities are holding competitions, at large public venues such as city stadiums, where groups from all
over the island archipelago gather and compete. The biggest gatherings are down towards the southern end of the
island in the capitol city of Naha, its suburbs of Urasoe, Ginowan, Chatan, and Okinawa city. The northern city of
Nago, where the inhabitants do not like to play second fiddle to anyone, they incorporate it into one of the largest
summer festivals on the island.
The Grand-Daddy Eisa of them all however is in Naha where they hold the annual Eisa parade. Here over 10,000
Eisa dancers will perform for a crowd at least ten times their number. The whole extravaganza takes over five
hours to complete and extraordinary effort goes in to coordinating and moving the performers in and around this
tightly packed stretch of Kokusai (International) street, in densely packed downtown Naha. The whole street
festival is a smorgasbord of performers ranging in age from three or four to well into their fifties. Serious groups
participate alongside fun loving groups of children as well as groups of special needs performers. The best part of
it all is that everyone has a blast, especially the performers. Perhaps that is what makes it so enjoyable for
everyone to watch.
By Meiko Zukeran
エイサー
エイサーと言えば沖縄、沖縄と言えばエイサーが思い浮かぶ程、沖縄
に根づいている伝統芸能。子供の頃は、旧南風原村喜屋武のエイサー
を観にいくのが楽しみでした。エイサーはサンシンの歌にあわせ、大
太鼓、中太鼓（締め太鼓）や小太鼓（パーランクー）を叩き、リズム
に合わせ掛け声（フェ―シ）を出しながら、踊ります。
エイサーは、旧盆の最初の日（ウンケー）に現世に戻ってきた祖先の
霊があの世に帰りたがらないので、お盆の最後の日（ウークイ）に太
鼓を叩いて脅かし、祖先の霊をあの世に迎り出す念仏踊りから伝統芸
能に発達したとされてます。今でも、地域によっては、その年に亡く
なった家を一件一件巡り、祖先の霊を供養する習慣が残ってます。
念仏踊りが、本土の念仏信仰者によって沖縄に伝えられ、それが沖縄
風にエイサーとして発展したものと言われてます。 エイサーは、地
域で独特の趣があり、一概に言えません。
戦争直後は、エイサーは人々の心のよりどころとなり、建て直しを盛
り上げたとされ、近年では、エイサー大会などでお祭りの風靡がある
が、沖縄に限らず、世界中に移民して行った沖縄県人や子孫の沖縄伝
統継承と沖縄に関心を深める役割にもなっています。
今では、YouTube で沖縄や世界中の各地域のエイサーやシカゴ沖縄県
人会 Performance Group が沢山のっているので、沖縄が身近に感じる
ものです。一度試してみたら如何でしょうか。
If you mention Eisa, Okinawa will come to mind. If you mention Okinawa, Eisa will come to mind. This is
because Eisa is deeply rooted in Okinawa culture. When I was small child, I looked forward to seeing Eisa at
Kyan, in Haebaru village. Eisa dancers there played the large drum, the medium drum (Shime daiko) and the
small drum (Per run kuu), and they shout (he-shi) to the rhythm along with the Sanshin (Okinawan traditional
three string instrument).
Eisa dances are performed for the spirits of our ancestors. During Obon, it is believed that the spirits of our
ancestors descend to the living world on the first day of Obon (unke). The spirits of the ancestors then return
to their world the last day of Obon (ukui). During their stay, it is said they enjoy the living world so much that
they do not wish to depart when ukui arrives. Therefore, the loud noise of drums is used to scare the spirits
along with the Eisa dance, which helps them to return to their world.
This is why Eisa has become a
Traditional dance of Okinawa. In some areas of Okinawa, Eisa dancers visit each home, which lost a family
member during the year, and they pray for their ancestor’s spirit.
It is believed that eisa was first brought to Okinawa by Buddhists from mainland Japan. The eisa developed
into a new variety of techniques and styles that are now unique to each village.
After the World War II, Eisa brought joy to hearts of the people, and uplift the mood and helped in the
rebuilding of Okinawa. Recently, Eisa has become increasingly more popular with many performances taking
on a show like atmosphere. This is good in a way though because it deepens peoples interest in Okinawan
traditions around the world, not just in people living in Okinawa, but also their descendants who have
immigrated to all over the world.
Now days, you can view Eisa dances from all over the world and even from the Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai on
YouTube. You should check it out as it may bring you feel closer to Okinawa.
By: Tom Corrao
Article Complied from Internet Sources
The
Okinawa
Prefectural
Government
recognized Ryukyu glass as a traditional
craftwork of Okinawa in 1998; however, the
distinctive glass traces its roots to well before
World War II. It is said that artisans came
nearly 100 years ago from Kyushu and the
Osaka areas to Okinawa with the knowledge of
glass making. In the beginning, they would
create the necessities of daily life such as lamp
chimneys, medicine bottles and jars.
During World War II though, heavy bombing
destroyed much of the island and in turn the
infrastructure of Okinawa's glass industry. This
required the Okinawan people to become more
resourceful in finding new ways of acquiring
resources and materials for glass making. They
soon discovered that sailors living aboard ships
anchored off Okinawa would throw their coke
bottles overboard into the ocean and the surf would wash them up on the shore where the
Okinawan people would collect them for the glass they needed. In fact, the Americans
living in Okinawa provided many of the raw materials used to rebuild Okinawa after World
War II. After the war, many Okinawans had very little and realized that they would need to
come up with new ways of acquiring income for daily living. At first, the glass bottles they
found were cut and used for common uses such as drinking cups. Soon they realized that
things could be made from the glass that could be sold to the very people who were
providing the resources. The materials from the U.S. military occupation of Okinawa soon
became the initial source for what has now became a very distinctive style of glassware.
The glassware now epitomizes Okinawan ingenuity and resourcefulness at using the
materials at hand in a new and interesting ways. Looking at the colors of Ryukyu glass is
like looking into Okinawa’s crystal blue oceans and seeing the multi-colored coral forms and
brightly colored fish beneath the water. A collection of glass is truly an amazing sight.
The process of making Ryukyu glass starts with finely crushing the bottles and then putting the pulverized
glass into a melting kiln. The artisan then scoops up a gob of molten glass on the end of his pipe and blows it.
While blowing, he rolls the molten glass creating its unique shape. The glass may be returned to a roasting
kiln during the process to keep the glass molten before adding the finishing touches to the piece. The finished
glassware will crack if cooled too fast, so it is allowed to cool slowly in a low-heat kiln.
After Okinawa’s reversion back to Japan in 1972, promotional tours to Okinawa began from mainland Japan
and Ryukyu glass became a favorite souvenir among Japanese tourists. The artisans began using new raw
materials to add variations in the colors of the pieces. The artisans learned to enhance color development by
adding cobalt to the blue, manganese oxide to the purples, and platina to the reds. As a result, Ryukyu glass
now features clear and vivid reds, blues, greens, browns and so forth. When we think of glass as an object,
we normally associated it with hardness and sharpness. However, some of the hand blown pieces of glass
from Okinawa have a more organic and almost gelatinous quality to them. Bubbles are added to the glass in a
highly skilled process that adds an artistic quality to the pieces. The bubbles are added to the glass for beauty
and artistic individuality and are not considered imperfections. In some pieces, the bubbles appear to be
precisely placed into the glass creating new and unique patterns. Some even say that the bubbles in Ryukyu
Glass seem like bubbles in the beautiful seas surrounding Okinawa.
As you would expect there are masters of the art of Ryukyu glass making in Okinawa now and the good news
is that there are many young Okinawans eager to learn the skills necessary to take this craft forward into the
coming generations.
Masuimi Max Everitt
Date of Birth:
November 18, 2008
Weight: 8 lbs
Born to:
Kenji & Jessica
In Orange California
Okinawa Goodwill Ambassadors Ikuko Nichols and
Tom Corrao worked the Okinawan Cultures Booth
at the 28th Annual Japan Day event sponsored by
the MidAmerica Japanese Club. The event was held
on June 13th & 14th at the Forest View Educational
Center in Arlington Heights, IL.
The Okinawan cultures booth displayed traditional
bingata cloths, Okinawan karate weapons, Ryukyu
hand-blown glass products, and gave out samples
of traditional foods like black cane sugar from
Okinawa and Andagi doughnuts.
Many members of the Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai
also volunteered their time to speak with visitors at
the booth about Okinawa and Okinawan Culture.
Thousands of people showed up at Mitsuwa Marketplace on August 1st
2009 for the annual Bon festival. Many of our members were present
and wore traditional yukata. Some members like Yoshiko Juravic
(pictured to the right) and Ikuko Nichols helped others in the crowd to
follow the dances by demonstrating techniques while dancing. Everyone
had a wonderful time celebrating the holiday.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai will not be
able to publish our financial statement in this edition of the quarterly newsletter.
We will publish a combined financial report in the fall edition of our newsletter. If
you have questions, you may contact any of the organizations officers. We
apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thank You very much for
your patience.
On August 2nd, 2009, the officers of the Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai met and discussed the possible creation of an
online resource that would archive the memories of our membership in regards to their experiences while still
living in Okinawa and after coming to the Chicago area. Some of us who were born in the United States could
also offer a different perspective to the project by telling stories and facts that we experienced with the Okinawa
Kenjinkai.
The intent of this resource would be to capture and share the history surrounding the uchinanchu people who
through many different avenues ended up in the Chicago area. The information could be provided in writing if a
person wishes to sit down and write out their experience that they wanted to share. Another means would be by
interview with an officer who may take notes or record the session on tape so that it could be transcribe to text
later.
If you are interested in helping build this Historical Archive, please contact on of the Kenjinkai Officer by email or
telephone.
MIEKO ZUKERAN
LINDA EVERITT
WALLY JURAVIC
DENNIS POTAMITES
TOM CORRAO
1 (847) 858-6230
Email only please
1 (847) 249-3740
1 (847) 677-4240
1 (262) 478-7667
miko59@gmail.com
oki4taiko@yahoo.com
wjuravic@sbcglobal.net
potoesan@aol.com
tcorrao@wi.rr.com
The Mexico Okinawa Kenjinkai will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in November 21 and 22, within the
Mexico-Japan 400 year relationship celebration initiated by both governments of Japan and Mexico. The Chicago
Okinawa Kenjinkai will be producing a congratulatory video to the Mexico Okinawa Kenjinkai in the very near
future. This will be similar to the video we made for the Cuban celebration. If you would like to participate in this
video production, please contact one of our officers. A link has been placed on the main menu of our web site
with more information about the event if you would like to attend. www.chicagookinawakenjinkai.com
It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of our organizations Treasurer
Born on September 12, 1985 in Chicago she passed away August 07, 2009.
The Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai wishes to express our deepest sympathy to the
Berenz family. We believe “Friends are like the pillars on a porch. Sometimes they
hold you up and sometimes they lean on you for support, In instances like this it is
always nice to know that they are standing by if you need them.” Alicia was a friend
and a benefit to our organization she will be sadly missed. May she rest in peace.