うちなー uchinaa: belonging to Okinawa
Okinawa has created some “special days” in the calendar to celebrate different aspects of Okinawa/Ryukyu culture and industry. Based on the sounds of the words or some other special meaning, they choose a day in the calendar to represent it. Please keep in mind these are not serious holidays, just “fun” holidays.
Here is a list of some of them (they sometimes add new ones and probably I have forgotten a few); I will slowly be adding descriptions for each day:
February 6: taanmu ターンム (田芋), English: taro
February 22: Yaeyama kamaboko 八重山かまぼこ, fishcake from the Yaeyama islands
March 4: sanshin 三線, traditional Okinawa 3-string instrument
March 5: sango サンゴ, English: coral
March 8: sanba 三板, traditional wooden Okinawa percussive instrument
March 14: sata andagi サーターアンダギー, Okinawa donut
*March 2 LUNAR CALENDAR: sannin サンニン (月桃), English: shell ginger
April 3: shisa シーサー, guardian lion-dogs
April 10: shibui シブイ, English: winter melon
April 15: mozuku もずく, a type of seaweed popular in Okinawa
Fourth Sunday in April: satoukibi さとうきび, English: sugarcane
May 4: minsa みんさー, type of Okinawa weaving pattern. A traditional minsa pattern consists of four and five small rectangles. These rectangles represent eternal love.
May 8: goya ゴーヤー, English: bitter melon
May 10: kokutou 黒糖, English: brown sugar
May 12: acerola アセロラ
May 30: Lord Gosamaru 護佐丸, a famous Ryukyu Lord of Nakagusuku
July 8: Naha 那覇, major city of Okinawa main island
July 10: Ultraman ウルトラマン, famous super-fighter character who comes from Okinawa
July 15: mango マンゴー
October 17: soba そば (suba すば)
October 25: karate 空手
November 1: awamori 泡盛, local Okinawa liquor
December 23: umibudou 海ぶどう, sea grapes
*after each word comes の日 (-no-hi), meaning “__ day.”
Example: “goya-no-hi” is “goya day”