Happy New Year from Henoko-Oura Bay
Hachi ukushi ceremony at Henoko Happy New Year! On New Year's Day 2019, some 360 people gathered at the Henoko beach to join the Hachi ukushi (first day of working or of rising) ceremony, celebrating the beginning of the year of the boar. Traditionally, people in Okinawa hold the Hachi ukushi to pray for the safety and good health of farmers, fisherman, artisans, and community members and a good harvest, good catch, and good yielding in the year. We hold this traditional Hachi ukushi on the send or third day of the first month of the year in the lunar calendar. The Hachi ukushi ceremony at Henoko is a little different from traditional ones, but it serves ultimately the same purposes. We prayed to the Nirai kanai no kami (gods of the outer world beyond the sea) that the U.S. military base would not be built in Henoko-Oura Bay so that the natural environment that provides us with food and livelihood would remain intact. We prayed that peace would prevail in