Public History Magazine

  On the island of Okinawa located to the south of mainland Japan, local Japanese people observe a holiday known as Shiimii ( 清明 ) festival or Obon as it’s called in mainland Japan. The festival is held during the two-week period in the beginning of April. The holiday is a celebration of the family’s ancestors. The day of Shiimii family members will go to their family’s ancestral tombs and sweep, wash, and clean the area to provide offerings for the dead. After all the preparations are done, they prepare a picnic of food drinks and prayer. For the Shiimii festival, traditional boxed food called “Usanmi ( 御三味 )” is prepared. Usanmi is a style of food for offerings to the gods and ancestors, which consists of ingredients harvested in the “sky, soil, and sea”. Usanmi food is normally packaged in lacquered wooden square boxes. These boxes are stacked up and brought to the tomb. A typical Usanmi box contains fish cakes (processed fish paste), deep-fried tofu, tempuras, grey sweet potato...