Okinawan folk songs, children’s songs, and nursery rhymes: the heart of our hometown passed down through song.
Doesn’t Okinawan music have a unique vibe that many people love?
In Okinawa, a distinct culture has been nurtured over a long period of time.
As a result, the unique resonance of the Ryukyuan scale combined with lyrics in the Okinawan dialect gives the music a charm unlike any other.
In this article, we’ll introduce plenty of folk songs and children’s songs that have been passed down from adults to children for generations in Okinawan music.
Listen to the songs we’re about to share, and carry on the spirit of Okinawa in song yourself.
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Okinawan folk songs, children's songs, and nursery rhymes: the heart of our homeland passed down through song (21–30)
Yuito of the WindHii de Katsu
Hideo Katsu, known by everyone from Okinawa, has released many Eisa songs.
“Kaze no Yuinchu” is one of them.
Just listening to it is empowering, and I’m sure it will become one of your favorite songs.
Yo, Kana yoOshiro Misako
In Okinawa, there was an outdoor singing gathering called “mo-asuibi” (ke-asobi), where men and women met, and this is one of the playful songs they sang.
The singer in this video is Misako Oshiro, who became a disciple of Chogane Chinami—the father of Sadao China—and pursued a path in folk music.
TubaramaKakihana Kenya
Appearing in the lyrics of BEGIN’s “Shima-jin nu Takara,” this is, along with Yonaguni Shonkane, one of the representative songs in Yaeyama folk music.
Even today, the “Tubarama Contest” is held, the song continues to be passed down in various places, and new lyrics are being created—Tubarama remains very much alive.
Its lyrics express love and nature with openness, and the song features a passionate hayashi (choral refrain).
Tinsagu Flowers
This is a song full of warm teachings that has long been passed down from parents to children in Okinawa.
Like dyeing your nails with the blossoms of the balsam flower, it gently teaches you to let your parents’ lessons soak into your heart.
Some may relate to the idea that a parent’s words are like countless stars and like the North Star that lights the course of one’s life.
The song became widely loved after it was broadcast on NHK’s “Minna no Uta” in 1966, and in recent years it was also featured in the drama “Chimudondon.” In March 2012, it was chosen by a prefectural referendum as the musical symbol of the prefecture.
Ichubi measuresuizu asu
This is a song from Yomitan Village.
With strawberries as its theme, it tells the story of a lovestruck woman who goes to meet a man under the pretense of picking strawberries.
It’s a bittersweet yet charming song that expresses the feelings of a woman lost in love.
It is used as the departure melody at Makishi Station on the Okinawa Urban Monorail.
Song of the Gutlessyohen aiko
Literally, it means “to love the heart,” but it can also mean “to love from the heart.” Based on the lyrics, it can even be understood as “sincere love.” The lyrics, which say that when we are young we seek love in the warmth of skin, and as we grow older it becomes a love of true sincerity, are profoundly deep.
NaakuniMasao Uehara & Masahiko Uehara
Nākuni is often called the “chanson of Okinawa” and is a renowned song representing the main island of Okinawa.
Alongside the Miyako folk song “Tūganī” and the Yaeyama folk song “Tubarāma,” it is also one of Okinawa’s signature songs.
It is said that you make it your own only after singing it a thousand times, and although mastering Nākuni is considered difficult, it is a song that is widely sung despite its difficulty.