•Folk Music

Okinawa is a treasure house of folk music. This is because the Okinawan people love folk music and singing and dancing have become a part of life. Almost every household has a sanshin (Okinawan samisen) and after the evening meal, the sounds of the sanshin can be heard coming from many directions. Also, there are Okinawan performing arts clubs from elementary schools on up to university and their activities are flourishing. The sanshin is familiar and close from an early age.
On the islands of Okinawa there are groups of priestesses called Noro. They gather in utaki -- sacred precincts and prayer sites -- to sing songs such as Tirukuguchi, Kwena, Umui and Tiruru accompanied by drums and hand clapping. These are the original folk songs. As mentioned before, since the sanshin made its way to Okinawa in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the musical scale of folk music has been fixed to an (30 syllable) 8-8-8-6 meter. This number of syllables in a verse has come to comprise the mainstream of folk music on the islands of Okinawa.
The sanshin, first developed as a musical instrument of the royal court, spread widely amongst the common folk of Okinawa after the dissolution of the Han domain system and the establishment of the prefectural system in 1879. Among the common folk, the young men and women would gather together on moonlit nights in the fields and on the seashore and sing, a custom called moashibi. After singing ballads full of emotion such as Nakuni and Kaisare, they moved on to sing faster tempo songs such as Takoyama and Achamegwa.
Additionally, in the later Meiji period (1868-1912) Okinawan playhouse circles provided the opportunity for folk music to achieve popularity. Exceptional folk music emerged from plays such as Ai no Amagasa (Love’s Umbrella), Shirahamabushi (White Beach Melody), Nishinjobushi (Song of Nishinjo), and Nakagusukujowa (Nakagusuku Love Story). The creation and performances of folk music are flourishing even today.
In the Miyako Islands, with the exception of Tarama Island, there are comparatively fewer folk songs that are sung to the accompaniment of the sanshin but they are rich in folk music sans sanshin. This type of ancient folk music is referred to as Niri, Tabi, Fusa, Pyashi, Agu and Togani. In particular, there are a myriad of charming folk songs singing about village gods and heroes. Folk songs such as Harimizu no Kuicha, Nariyama ayagu, Irabu Togani and Taramashunkani are a few of the well-known songs of this genre.
In the Yaeyama Islands there are quite a few folk songs. The traditional festival and working songs are ancient folk songs not accompanied by the sanshin, but instead use drums and gongs. There are songs sung to hand clapping such as Ayo, Jiraba, Yunta, and Yungutu. The folk music that incorporates the sanshin is termed Fushiuta or Sanshinuta. The songs Tubarama and Yonaguni Shongane are considered two of the great lyrical songs. Also well known are Asasdoya Yunta, Hatomabushi, Kuroshima Kuduchi and the lullaby Tsuki no Kaisha.