Sabani
- Japanese: サバニ (sabani)
Sabani are a traditional style of Okinawan fishing canoe, paddled with wooden oars and/or sailed with a junk-style folding sail. Though fishermen today almost exclusively use more modern boats to make a living, sabani are still built in the traditional manner and used recreationally, for fishing, paddling, sailing, and racing, especially in Itoman, a city in the southern portion of Okinawa Island.
Sabani take their name from saba[fuka], referring to the fish liver oil or other natural marine materials used as a sealant in constructing the boats, and funi, the Okinawan word for "boat."[1]
References
- ↑ Kaiyô Kokka Satsuma: Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen fukugen 海洋国家薩摩-失われた琉球船復元, Kagoshima: Shôkoshûseikan (2005), 27.