LIHU‘E — Some things change, others don’t. “Warabi Ashibi is designed so kids learn snippets of Okinawan culture while remembering their plantation heritage,” said Karen Kuba-Hori of the Hawai‘i United Okinawa Association, Monday, the second day of a three-day camp
LIHU‘E — Some things change, others don’t.
“Warabi Ashibi is designed so kids learn snippets of Okinawan culture while remembering their plantation heritage,” said Karen Kuba-Hori of the Hawai‘i United Okinawa Association, Monday, the second day of a three-day camp for children ages 7 to 12.
Soupbone Kashiwabara was working on perfecting the buzz saw game that has its roots in plantation camp lifestyle.
“In the old days, the game was created using a piece of twine and buttons,” Kuba-Hori said. “But today, we don’t want to use beer caps, they don’t have soda in bottles with metal caps, and buttons cost too much money.”
To this end, Kashiwabara was trying to find the “right” twine that would not break when threaded through the flattened beer bottle caps.
When twisted and pulled, the cap would whirl and make a buzzing sound. Another player would come and — with both caps “buzzing” — try to either stop the other cap or in extreme cases break the twine with the sawing action of the cap.
“This is all possible because of a grant from the State Foundation on the Culture and the Arts,” Kuba-Hori said. “We started the first program on O‘ahu in 1996 and from there, the day camps have spread to the Outer Islands through the coordination of the Hui Alu, or Okinawan clubs, on each island.”
There are Warabi Ashibi, which means Children at Play, camps in Kohala and Hilo on the Big Island and one on Maui. The one on Kaua‘i started in 2001, Kuba-Hori said.
Monday, the 11 children enrolled in the Kaua‘i Okinawan Cultural Day Camp for Children were working on creating shisa, or the cross between a dog and lion from Okinawa mythology, using paper maché and paper milk cartons.
Gary Ueunten of the Kaua‘i Hui Alu had an “antique” shisa on display for the children to see.
“It’s made out of wood so it’s real heavy,” Ueunten said. “We don’t know how old it is, but it’s an antique. Do you know what the eyes are made of?”
The eyes of the Okinawan shisa were made of porcelain door knobs commonly found on homes in the plantation camps.
Usually found in pairs decorating homes in the Ryukyu area of Japan, the left shisa is usually open-mouthed while the right shisa is close-mouthed. The open-mouth variation is designed to chase away evil spirits from the home while the close-mouth shisa hopes to keep the good spirits within the residence.
“Most of the children here are either yon-sei, or go-sei, and the Warabi Ashibi camp is designed to make sure the children do not lose their Okinawa ties,” Kuba-Hori said.
Gutters from plantation camp homes served as a race course for boats fashioned out of kamabuko, or fish cake, boards, warabashi, or disposable wooden chopsticks, and rubber bands.
“Even this has changed,” Kuba-Hori said. “Gary said the gutters now don’t lend themselves to being a race course, so he modified the course so it’s a wooden bench turned upside down and filled with water, a length of rope serving as lane markers.”
Irene Hino and Cheryl Nakasone-Penhart accompanied Kuba-Hori from Honolulu, Hino concentrating on working with the Okinawan history while Nakasone-Penhart choreographed a dance about the shisa.
Kuba-Hori said the Kaua‘i leg of Warabi Ashibi was led by Ueunten and Wendy Gonsalves of the Kaua‘i Hui Alu. Gonsalves, laughing, said, “I never work with paper maché from the time I was in school.”
All of the accomplishments of the students will be showcased during a special program for parents, Tuesday, when the children perform a program utilizing the training they had in taiko, karate, and the shisa dance saga.
Parents will be treated to Okinawa cuisine centering around noodles made by the children, their final task in the camp.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
