Sabani Launching Ceremony

There is a ceremony when a new sabani is launched for its maiden voyage. The ceremony involves the owner of the new boat, his relatives, team mates and people involved or interested at some level.
The ceremony consists in purifying the boat with salt, rice and awamori (local alcohol). offerings are gathered in the boat, and some candies or sweet rice cakes are distributed to people attending.
There are only few shipwrights still able to perform the ceremony properly, Itoman is one of the last places where this tradition is still alive.