Nago City Mayor's Cup Inter-Business Dragon Boat Race, which was slated for August 7th, Sunday, has been cancelled, according to the race organizer, Nago City Tourism Bureau.
Okinawa has been hit by TY 1109 (MUIFA) for the last 2 days and it is very likely that gusts will brow tomorrow as well. I made a phone call to Nago City Tourism Bureau to find out their decision of cancelling the tomorrow's boat race event and they answered yes.
If you live in Okinawa and know someone who were going to take part in the race or to watch the boat race, please pass the information around.
For more information, please call 0980-53-7755 (Nago City Tourism Bureau).
**Nago City Mayor's Cup Inter-Business Dragon Boat Race is an annual boat race held in the City of Nago in Okinawa, Japan. Dragon boat race originates in ancient China and has spread to many parts of East Asia. In fishing villages and towns in Okinawa, this is a religious/cultural ceremony as well as a sport; it is still held as a ceremonial event for large hauls of fish and safe journeys on the ocean. Nago City used be a fishing town with a good natural port located in the deep bay, so the boat event in Nago fits to that category of culture, too. What's unique about this event is that among all dragon boat race events in Okinawa, this is the last and larges boat race event of the year and has been established as the last boat race in Okinawa, where participants from all over the prefecture consider the race to be the event to decide the strongest team. Winning the tournament is considered to be an honor among dragon boat teams in Okinawa.
