Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 11.5
Hazama Honja (the elderly) prays for a good harvest of rice, awa millet, sweet potato,
and other crops
'
Tanadhui
' is a Yaeyama word and can be translated literally as 'collecting crop
seeds' (not sowing); its etymological similarity to the Okinawan term with the same
meaning, '
tanthui
', indicates that the festival origins could date back to the sixth
century, when millet initially arrived in the southernmost group of islands from
Okinawa. In this case, the festival would originally have celebrated the 'harvest' or
collection of millet before a formal agricultural cycle had been established.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to describe the original style of Tanadhui Festival
in detail, but it is said that at the beginning it took place in each of the island's six
on
, or sacred forests (Uesedo
1976
). The custom of a unified festival celebrated
by the entire island population may have been established after the seventeenth
century, when the Chinese zodiac signs became widespread through Yaeyama as
the festival days are associated with the Chinese zodiac calendar.
More certainly, the modern Tanadhui Festival can be divided into three periods
(Karimata
2003
). The first period is 1903-1945, beginning with the abolition of
the poll tax and ending with the conclusion of the Second World War. The aboli-
tion of the poll tax ended the obligation of common people to support the noble
samurai
class, and so signified the end of the sovereignty of the
samurai
. Even
though the people of Taketomi were freed from their previous burden, the Tanadhui
Festival was still quite simple in this first period. It consisted of group and court
dancing. Later some popular dramas from Japan, such as “
Nioh
” and “Soga
Brothers” (Fig.
11.6
), were adopted, but the costumes were unaffected and there
was no role for women in the performing arts.
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