Where a community comes together

In this rural part of Okinawa, a community wouldn't be complete without a "kominkan." It is a place where community members, young and old, get together to have a friendly chat over tea, have serious discussions about the future of the community, take cultural lessons to enrich their lives, practice "bon-odori" dances for summer festivals, or hold celebrations for senior members of the community, many of whom are amazingly vigorous in their 70s, 80s, and even 90s. A kominkan, often translated as community center, is an essential core that holds a community together.

Our area has unusual three kominkans because of a consolidation a few years ago of three adjacent communities. Each kominkan has distinctive character but the oldest one, a half-a-century-old wooden building in the form of a traditional Okinawan private house, is most unique and therefore my favorite. 

One of the first things you would notice as you enter the kominkan is an old wooden board with hundreds of names hand-written on it. These are the names of the people who made donations for the construction of the kominkan. The board is displayed at a very high and visible place as if it is an eternal tribute to those who offered, in an extraordinary cooperative spirit, their hard-won earnings at a time when Okinawa and Japan were not so wealthy as they are today.

There is a project under way in our community to build a new kominkan for the now-united three communities. Two of the existing kominkans are expected to be demolished to finance the construction but the oldest one will probably be spared the fate. I strongly hope it will. It is an invaluable reminder of the remarkable spirit of our predecessors and an inspiring symbol of unity and harmony for our enlarged community.