Hiyamikachi Machigwa Hall on Heiwa Dori shopping arcade in Makishi, Naha, recorded 55,000 visitors during fiscal 2015.

According to Naha City Promotion Division, the number of visitors has been increasing every year since the facility opened in 2011.

The hall offers a wide variety of live performances, such as folk songs that are popular among elderly people, as well as street performances and a haunted house that are popular among families. Anime song concerts at the hall are popular among young people.

This year, in addition to its ordinary performances, the hall presents special plays with the dialogue in “Shimakutuba,” the original Okinawan dialect. The haunted house that was popular last year is also included in the schedule.

On weekdays, there is the “Hiyamikachi seminar” that offers free lessons in playing traditional Okinawan musical instruments like sanshin and sanba, and workshops in traditional dance.

Currently, the hall runs a photo exhibit titled “Natsukashiten” displaying pictures of Okinawa before the reversion in 1972. The exhibition runs until Feb. 25, 2017.

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