Kachāshī
Encyclopedia
, sometimes romanized
as katcharsee, is a form of festive Ryukyuan
folk dance
. In Okinawa, it is often a feature of celebrations such as weddings and victory festivities after Okinawan sumo
matches and public elections. Traditionally, the dance is accompanied by the sanshin
and drum
, and often punctuated with finger whistling
called .
The dance is executed with the hands in the air, palm flat for women and curled (or in fists) for men. The hands alternate in a pulling and pushing, up and down elliptical motion, one hand facing outward and up while the other is facing inward and down. The hand movements are notoriously difficult to execute without training. The steps are mostly improvised, but generally consist of a slightly bow-legged stance, alternately lifting and lowering the feet to the rhythm of the music.
Kachāshī dance songs ("A Chinese Ship Is Coming"), the most famous kachāshī dance song, a courtship dance song
Romanization of Japanese
The romanization of Japanese is the application of the Latin alphabet to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is known as , less strictly romaji, literally "Roman letters", sometimes incorrectly transliterated as romanji or rōmanji. There are several different romanization systems...
as katcharsee, is a form of festive Ryukyuan
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
folk dance
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
. In Okinawa, it is often a feature of celebrations such as weddings and victory festivities after Okinawan sumo
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
matches and public elections. Traditionally, the dance is accompanied by the sanshin
Sanshin
The sanshin is an Okinawan musical instrument and precursor of the Japanese shamisen. Often likened to a banjo, it consists of a snakeskin-covered body, neck and three strings....
and drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
, and often punctuated with finger whistling
Wolf-whistling
Wolf-whistling or finger whistling is a type of whistling in which fingers are inserted in the mouth to produce a louder and more penetrating tone....
called .
The dance is executed with the hands in the air, palm flat for women and curled (or in fists) for men. The hands alternate in a pulling and pushing, up and down elliptical motion, one hand facing outward and up while the other is facing inward and down. The hand movements are notoriously difficult to execute without training. The steps are mostly improvised, but generally consist of a slightly bow-legged stance, alternately lifting and lowering the feet to the rhythm of the music.
Kachāshī dance songs ("A Chinese Ship Is Coming"), the most famous kachāshī dance song, a courtship dance song