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)
Tinsagu FlowersRimi Natsukawa
This is a famous song covered by Rimi Natsukawa, originally a traditional didactic song from Okinawa.
It sings about cherishing and engraving in one’s heart the words received from one’s parents, overlaying that sentiment with the image of dyeing one’s nails with balsam flower petals.
Rimi Natsukawa’s crystal-clear, endlessly pure voice and the simple tones of the sanshin cleanse the heart—this is a tender, deeply moving piece filled with compassion.
The song was included on the album “Okinawa Uta ~Feeling the Ryukyu Breeze~,” released in November 2009, and was also selected as a beloved song of the people of Okinawa Prefecture.
It’s said to be familiar as the station melody for the Yui Rail as well.
The love and wisdom passed down across generations warms the heart before you know it.
Uwaki-bushiShokichi Kina & Tetsuko Kina
This is a call-and-response song between a wife, exasperated by her husband’s cheating, and the husband himself.
Thanks in part to the rhythmic melody, the husband’s unreasonable excuses come across comically.
While the song exposes the foolishness of Okinawan men of the time, many Okinawan men today will likely find it “uchi-atai” (striking close to home).
Yuito of the WindHiga Tatsumi
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.
Yui-YuiMayumi Yamakawa
It’s a song that was aired around 1992 on “Hirake! Ponkikki.” It’s memorable for an Okinawan girl singing while riding a sabani, a traditional Okinawan boat.
The word “yuimaaru,” which appears many times in the song, is an Okinawan dialect term that means cooperation and mutual help.
Scenes reflecting that idea also appear in the song, and although it was used in a children’s program, it’s a song that reminds us that people live by helping one another.
Yo, Kana yoMisako Oshiro
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.
TubaramaKenya Kakino
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).
Ichubi measureswith us
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.