Kadena Shoguns Dragon Boat Team

15/05/2026

Thank you Kadena Air Base for documenting our teams hard work at this year's Naha Haarii!

07/05/2026

Thank you Kadena Air Base for featuring us in this article! The Kadena Shoguns and Lady Shoguns are proud to represent the Kadena Air Base community at all our dragon boat races, especially one as prominent and historic as the Naha Haarii!

The sharp crack of a drum echoes across the harbor as dozens of paddles strike the water in unison, propelling brightly painted dragon boats forward with strength and rhythm.From May 3 to 5, 2026,

06/05/2026

We couldn't have asked for a better Naha Haarii!

Our Kadena Shoguns showed up for their heat with a blistering time of 4:35:22, shattering our time from last year by over 20 seconds! That performance put us in 3rd place overall after our heat!

While we ultimately finished 7th overall in the Haarii, our team was beyond overjoyed with what we accomplished! Months of hard work and training paid off and all our determined koi fish paddlers have made it to the top of the waterfall and are full fledged DRAGONS!

Thank you to all our supporters who braved the Okinawa monsoons to cheer us on!

04/05/2026

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

TODAY IS RACE DAY!

As we complete our final preparations to take on the 52nd Naha Haarii today, we look back at the months of practice and training that we completed to get here and celebrate, US!

The Kadena Shoguns are not just a team of paddlers; we're husbands and wives who found an activity that we both can enjoy together. We're friends who paddle hard during the week and enjoy good laughs on the weekend. And we're members of a community that embraced a tradition that we didn't know much about and passionately love it.

Today we compete in the biggest race of the season and we hope you can support us! Our race is tentatively scheduled for 1320 JST today and we would love for you to come cheer us on!

Let's Go Shoguns! IT'S RACE DAY!

04/05/2026

Only ONE DAY left until the 52nd Naha Haarii! Today the Kadena Shoguns remember our hardest practice of the season, our Naha Big Boat Practice!

This was our only opportunity this season to practice in the Naha Big Boats and we took full advantage of it! An hour of starts, turns and endurance paddling pushed our teammates to their limits while helping acclimate our newest Shoguns to the boat they will race in for the first time tomorrow and reminding our veterans of the nuances of an old friend they hadn't seen in a year.

We even had a chance to celebrate the birthday of our teammates, Maria, after we finished our practice!

Tomorrow is the main event! LET'S GO SHOGUNS!!!

03/05/2026

2 Days till the Naha Haarii! Today we want to recap our awesome practices that we had with our sister team, the Lady Shoguns, and our Japan Air Self Defense Force partners at Naha Air Base the Lequio Wing!

Each Big Boat season, the Kadena Shoguns and Lady Shoguns travel down to Naha Air Base for two practices with the Lequio Wing. Not only is it a great opportunity to learn from fellow teams, but it is a chance to become better friends with members of our host nation through the sport of dragon boat.

These are tough practices, but our Shoguns showed up ready to be pushed to our limits. After a hard hour of paddling, we showed our gratitude to our hosts with a gift from both Kadena Teams of food, drinks and other goodies!

Thank you so much for the hospitality and friendship! We can't wait to cheer you both on on RACE DAY!!!

Photo Credit:

JASDF Lequio Wing
Erwin Lewis

03/05/2026

Our Kadena Shoguns absolutely loved our Nagayo Little Peiron Festival mikan jerseys; so much so we formed up as a mikan for our final Nagayo picture! 🍊🍊🍊

Thank you so much and for another amazing peiron experience!

02/05/2026

We kicked off our 2026 Season with the 6th Annual Nagayo Little Peiron Festival at Nagayo in Nagasaki Prefecture!

While technically a summer race, this wonderful race has become a cherished tradition to start our dragon boat season over the past two years. This iteration may have been mostly rainy, but it didn't dampen the spirits of the 12 Shoguns who made the trip to Nagayo!

We fielded two boats this year, one in the women's division and one in the beginners division. While we didn't come away with a trophy or prizes; the experience of racing peiron, dancing eisa and interacting with the fun loving people of Kyushu made the trip more than worth it!

We were also grateful that the people of Nagayo loved our mikan jerseys! Inspired by the local oranges of the town and the boxes they are packed in for shipment, we wanted to show our appreciation for the hospitality of the Nagayo race with a tribute to this local staple. 🍊

Thank you for an amazing start to 2026 and we can't wait till next year!

24/12/2025

The Kadena Shoguns would like to wish everyone in Okinawa and beyond a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

From a Christmas photoshoot with our sabani Chichiko at the Marina to volunteering to wrap holiday gifts at the Kadena BX and finally a holiday party and White Elephant ornament exchange with our teammates at Terra Restaurant on Camp Foster; our Shoguns have had a fantastic holiday season and can't wait for the New Year!