Popular Okinawan Songs: Artist Rankings [2026]

It’s okayji ma ma43rank/position

jimama “It’s Okay”

This song by jimama, a singer-songwriter from Okinawa, features beautiful piano and orchestral accompaniment.

Her gentle voice offers quiet encouragement when you’re feeling down or going through tough times.

The message, written with the expansive, embracing spirit characteristic of artists from Okinawa, carries compassion that resonates with people across the country, whether they are from Okinawa or not.

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Murakami Shinpei

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Mimura Danceari ari musume44rank/position

Mimura Dance: Ari Ari Maiden

It is said to be a song that sings about the three villages of Oroku, Tomigusuku, and Kakinohana.

It lists the place names and weaves in stories about local specialties unique to those areas.

Later, it was also performed under new names for three villages—Kamidomari, Tomari, and Moto-no-Tomari.

It is used as the departure melody at Oroku Station on the Okinawa Urban Monorail.

Ichubi measuresuizu asu45rank/position

With Us — “Ichubi Phrase”

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 aiko46rank/position

Aiko Nube ♫ Kuganasa-bushi ↝ TBNYD13

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.

Let’s walk facing forwardJonī Ginowan47rank/position

Let's walk facing forward

Johnny Ginowan, who rose to prominence as a singer representing Okinawan local products, performs a song that arranges Kyu Sakamoto’s “Ue o Muite Arukou” in an Okinawan style.

The Okinawan-version lyrics, which seem to speak for the feelings of the Okinawan people who have lived through the Battle of Okinawa and the reversion to Japanese sovereignty, resonate gently in the heart.

Tancha-mae Bushitinkutinku48rank/position

Tink Tink ♪ Tancha-mae Bushi

Those are difficult characters, aren’t they? “Tanchame,” written as 谷茶前, refers to the coast of Onna Village in central Okinawa Island.

It’s a folk song that depicts the scenery of a fishing village.

The singers, Tink Tink, are a female duo from Okinawa, and their unit name is an Okinawan dialect expression that imitates the sound of the sanshin.

With a sanshin in one handDiamantes49rank/position

Naha Hari 2010 — Diamantes – Sanshin in One Hand

This is the theme song for the 3rd Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival.

The message—let’s strum the sanshin and set off into the world—is also directed at the younger generation of Okinawans who are expanding their activities from the small islands of Okinawa to the global stage.