(Photo courtesy of Marine Corps Installations Pacific)
Eisa on Camp Foster 2025 to showcase Okinawan dance on the Marine Corps installation May 11.
This open-base event will feature six local and on-base dance teams performing at Camp Foster Resale Lot near the PX from 2-4 p.m.
Eisa, an Okinawan dance whose history is thought to date back 400 to 500 years, is commonly performed during Obon or Kyu-bon, a period in late summer when locals welcome home the spirits of their ancestors. The dance was originally meant to see off the ancestors back to the afterlife at the end of the period. However, Eisa season is now broadly considered between June and September, according to the planning committee of Zento Eisa Matsuri (All Island Eisa Festival), the biggest Eisa Festival in Okinawa.
If you have lived in Okinawa for some time, you’ve probably heard the drum beat of the dancers when summer comes along.
The event on Camp Foster will lead the way to celebrate the arrival of Eisa season. Teams from Chatan Town will be joined by a team from the U.S. military as well as the Firebird Drummers, a team from the Amelia Earhart Intermediate School, to pump up the mood.
Local citizens with a photo ID will be granted access to the base via Legion Gate (Gate No. 6) from noon to 3 p.m. Those 17 years old and younger must be escorted by adults.
Come to Foster and celebrate the Eisa season together.
Eisa on Camp Foster 2025
Date: May 11 (Sunday)
Time: 2 – 4 p.m.
Venue: Resale Area near PX
