Gusuyoo chuu wuganabira,
On behalf of our Ukwanshin Kabudan shinkaa (circle of friends), I would like to thank all of you for supporting our classes and programs. This has been an interesting year as we slowly started easing our way back to in-person engagements. A special thank you to Jikoen Hongwanji for continuing to provide a space for us to gather. We hope to have even more opportunities next year to be physically together while maintaining our online platform as well.
In anticipation of a busy holiday season for everyone, we’ve decided to take an early break this year. Here is our upcoming online programming schedule (also see December calendar):
- no Umanchu Suruti presentation for December or January (resume 2/6/2023)
- no Shima Kutuba class for December (resume 1/9/2023)
- last Ufubushi classical uta-sanshin class with Keith-shinshii will be 12/6/2022 (resume 1/3/2023)
- last Fa-uta folk uta-sanshin class will be 12/7/2022 (resume 1/4/2023)
- no Beginners’ uta-sanshin class on 12/14/2022 (discontinue in 2023 – see below)
- last Jiutee dance music uta-sanshin class will be 12/14/2022 (resume 1/11/2023)
We will continue our regular monthly schedule in 2023 with one exception. The monthly beginning foundations uta-sanshin class (2nd Wednesdays, 7:30-8:00pm) will be discontinued. We will instead offer periodic Uta-sanshin Gateway courses which are week-long intensive classes for beginners. Please be on the lookout for announcements on these courses.
We are also excited to announce plans for the first time in 2 years, in-person Sougwachi Uyuyee (lunar New Year celebration) in January and Loochoo Identity Summit in March. Also, we are looking forward to resuming the annual Gakumun Tour to Okinawa in the fall. Please stay tuned for more details as we roll them out.
Please continue to stay safe and take care of each other this holiday season. We look forward to seeing you all soon. Ippee nifee deebitan.