Ishigaki Island Hari

"On the tiny island of Tsuken-jima off the Okinawa coast, men perform a rare circle dance of Chinese origin in traditional summer dress to hand-held drums, a centuries-old communal rite confined almost entirely to this one small island community."

Too Udui Dance

"One of Okinawa's three great tug-of-war festivals, with 450 years of history, pitting East and West teams of around a thousand residents against each other on a five-tonne rope in this small coastal town."

Yonabaru Dai Tsunahiki Matsuri (Yonabaru Great Tug-of-War Festival)

"Youth seinenkai groups carry odaiko and paranku drums through the streets of Yomitan village on all three Obon nights, performing ancestral eisa in the living community tradition rather than on a stage."

Okinawa Obon Eisa Michi-uchi (Village Street Eisa)

"Three men caked head-to-toe in sacred mud from an ancient well become the Paantu spirits, a UNESCO-recognised ritual, chasing residents through the Shimajiri lanes of Miyako-jima to smear exorcistic mud on children, cars and newly built homes."

Paantu Punaha (Shimajiri district)

"The Nobaru district's own Paantu ritual, a separate and distinct iteration of the mud-deity exorcism held in the rural Ueno village of Miyako-jima, is a living Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property performed in a small farming community."

Paantu (Nobaru district, Ueno Village)

"Itoman's sacred hare, believed to descend from the Ryukyu Kingdom era, features the dramatic kunnukase capsize race in which crews must flip their sabani boat, bail it out, and race to the finish in this ancient fishing port."

Itoman Haree (糸満ハーレー)

"In the Special Heavy-Snowfall Zone town of Mamurogawa, locals compete in four snow-specific athletic events invented for conditions where waist-deep drifts arrive before dawn, followed by winter fireworks and a market stalls village."

Mamurogawa Hakuatsuron (真室川ホワイトアスロン)