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Click here for tickets: Aya no Hashi concert
SUNDAY, September 21, 2025, 3:00 PM
JIKOEN HONGWANJI
“Aya no Hashi” is a presentation of traditional and contemporary folk dances from the Yaeyama Islands south of Okinawa as part of a cultural exchange between Honolulu-based Ukwanshin Kabudan and the Ishigaki-based groups Ayapani Kabudan and Yaeyama Folk Dance Academy under the instruction of dance master Masako Akayama.
Around fifteen performers from across Yaeyama will grace the stage at Jikoen Hongwanji Hall on Sunday September 21, 2025 from 3:00pm. Doors will open at 2:00pm, with overflow parking available at Kapālama Elementary School. Tickets are $25 general admission and $10 for children between ages 5 and 10. Admission is free for children under the age of 5. Seating is limited.
Dance master Masako Akayama has dedicated her life to perpetuating the folk dance traditions of the Yaeyama islands and is one of the last keepers of the traditions of her native Kuroshima Island. She has mentored hundreds of students through her
Yaeyama Folk Dance Academy, including her daughter Mieko Haeno who oversees the dancers of the Yaeyama High School performing arts club and will be joining us in Hawaiʻi.
Ayapani Kabudan is a collective of young performing artists formed earlier this year and is comprised of current members and graduates of the highly renowned traditional performing arts clubs of the three high schools in Yaeyama. Several of Ayapani’s members performed in the well-received student shows in Honolulu hosted by Ukwanshin in 2015 and 2017.
“Aya no Hashi” is a culmination of more than ten years of friendship between Ukwanshin Kabudan and Yaeyama High School’s and Yaeyama Forestry and Agricultural High School’s traditional performing arts clubs. The concert will showcase a rare performance of “Kuroshima Kuduki” from Kuroshima Island which has spawned several popular iterations throughout Yaeyama and Okinawa. Please don’t miss this special presentation of the unique and distinctive performing traditions of the Yaeyama Island.
