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The Bunagaya Spirits of the Yanbaru Jungle
Bunagaya are magical creatures that inhabit the Y anbaru jungle near Ogimi and its surrounding towns. They manifest as children with long red hair, and like to hide in the jungle’s gajumaru (banyan) trees and go fishing on the beach.
Many of Okinawa’s stories and fables are about bunagaya sprites. They are mischievous, playful, and unpredictable. L ocals say that the bunagaya love the mountains, rivers, sea, trees, earth, wind, and animals, and that if you want to befriend them, you have to show respect for nature.

A birthday party

When we arrive at the neighborhood’s community center, we’re greeted by a group of about twenty people who proudly proclaim, “The youngest among us is eighty-three!”
We conduct our interviews at a large table while drinking green tea. When we finish, we’re brought to an event space, where we celebrate the birthdays of three members of the group. One woman is turning ninety-nine, another ninety-four, and one “young man” has just reached eighty-nine.
We sing a few songs popular in the village and finish up with “Happy Birthday” in English. The woman turning ninety-nine blows out the candles and thanks everyone for coming to her party. We eat homemade shikuwasa cake and end up dancing and celebrating as though it were the birthday of a twentysomething.
It’s the first party, but not the last, that we’ll attend during our week in the village. We’ll also do karaoke with a group of seniors who sing better than we do, and attend a traditional festival with local bands, dancers, and food stands at the and attend a traditional festival with local bands, dancers, and food stands at the foot of a mountain.

C elebrate each day, together

Celebrations seem to be an essential part of life in Ogimi.
We’re invited to watch a game of gateball, one of the most popular sports among Okinawa’s older residents. It involves hitting a ball with a mallet-like stick. It is a low-impact sport that can be played anywhere, and is a good excuse to move around and have fun as a group. The residents hold local competitions, and there is no age limit for participants.
We participate in the weekly game and lose to a woman who recently turned 104. Everyone cheers, and the defeated look on our faces elicits laughter.
In addition to playing and celebrating as a community, spirituality is also essential to the happiness of the village’s residents.