A visit to Shikina-en

Shikina-en in Okinawa’s Naha is famous as a garden which was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000. It was created in the late 18th century as a large second residence for the Ryukyu royal family. It was then carefully reconstructed over a 20 year period following its complete destruction in the Battle of Okinawa. The garden’s design shows many differences from the gardens of Japan and many similarities with China. Not least is the small hexagonal Chinese style pavilion known as Rokkaku-do, while the arch leading to the pavilion was carved from a single piece of Ryukyu limestone. The plants and foliage of Shikina-en also remind us that this is very much a Ryukyu garden situated in the subtropics. Despite having lived in Okinawa for five years – and having made many trips to the islands before that – this was our first visit to the garden today.

Some photos taken this afternoon:

Toru Yonaha: Tunaka

Toru Yonaha has done everything. Born in Chatan on Okinawa’s main island, he was introduced to the sanshin as a three year old. After becoming familiar with traditional Okinawan songs and music he took part in Eisa festivals and rapidly became an expert in that field. He appeared as a solo artist at Ryukyu Festivals, toured overseas, became a multi-instrumentalist, a sanshin teacher, songwriter and producer. It seemed no album could be released in Okinawa without Yonaha’s name somewhere in the credits. His collaborations included a joint album in 2009 with Misako Oshiro.

Now at last we have the release of Tunaka which is a ‘Best’ selection of Yonaha’s solo work from the years 2001 to 2014. Despite his numerous musical activities (or maybe because of them) there have been just four solo albums in all that time, beginning with his debut Yozare Bushi in 2001. His fourth album Roots came out in 2008 but this compilation adds some other newer recordings to bring us up to date.

Yonaha has dabbled in pop and rock as well as classical, traditional and shimauta, so choosing just eleven tracks for this album was never easy. He has gone mostly for the fuller sounding band recordings. The final track, however, is a 14 minute ‘Kachashi’ dance workout. There is a nice contribution from singers Mika Uchizato and Chihiro Kamiya on ‘Ashimiji Bushi’ and a good version of ‘Yoake’ a song written by Japanese pop band Spitz. There are also three previously unreleased recordings, one of them a new song co-written by Yonaha. Two other tracks have been remixed for this release.

The final lengthy dance track seems a bit of an indulgence when several more interesting songs could have been included on the one hour album. There is only one track from his excellent debut Yozare Bushi. That album included a fantastic recording of ‘Shin Daisanajya’ one of Yonaha’s finest moments and the greatest version by anyone of this traditional song. To omit it from any ‘best’ album seems a crime.

Toru Yonaha

Yonaha still hasn’t entirely fulfilled that early potential as a solo artist though his contribution to Okinawan music in countless other ways is immense. He is still only 38 (which in Okinawa means he’s just a boy) so there should be many years left to make that really great album. In fact, the title Tunaka is an Okinawan word meaning to be on the open sea. Yonaha sees this as symbolic of being in the middle of his career with still some way to go.

In the meantime, this is a good introduction given the reservations already mentioned. Anyone yet to discover Toru Yonaha will not be disappointed with the extraordinarily accomplished and versatile singer and musician presented on this collection.

Tunaka is released by J’s Records.

http://www.toru-yonaha.com/

 

Manami: Shangri-La

Okinawa has been likened to Shangri-La in the past with its laid-back lifestyle and renowned longevity. Whether or not the connection is intentional, Shangri-La has been chosen by Okinawan singer Manami as the title track of her new album. Earlier this year she collaborated with singer Awich on the CD Two but the new solo album is her first since last year’s Jungolden Night.

As before, Shangri-La is very much a joint affair as Manami co-wrote all the songs with her brother Daisuke Nakamura and he is also responsible for the arrangements, keyboards and programming. The talented Nakamura really knows how to create catchy synth-pop and gets straight down to business with the opening title track and then the second song ‘Kimi no Kaze’.

Manami’s vocals are strong and clear and she has an engaging personality which somehow manages to radiate through her singing. Her lyrics are carefully crafted and positive. But on one song ‘Koi no Yume’ she sings what sounds like a pastiche of a 1960s American pop song complete with adolescent lyrics, whistling, and a lovelorn chorus sung all in English. It’s completely silly but quite irresistible.

As on her previous album she tries some slower ballads but these are her weakest point and the frankly tedious ‘Yumeboshi’ is over six minutes but seems almost twice as long. Much better is the more adventurous ‘Mabuya’ which hints at her Okinawan background as well as her interesting work with Awich.

The album contains seven new songs plus two bonus tracks, one of them a remix of last year’s ‘Jungolden Night’, the other an instrumental version of ‘Shangri-La’. So this is another mixed bag but with enough good moments to override its weaknesses. For the first time the album is being distributed throughout Japan so she may well gain a larger following to go with the already strong fan base she has on Okinawa. The title track is also being used in commercials to advertise Okinawa’s Orion Southern Star beer.

Shangri-La is released by VillageAgain/Siesta

More details and a promotional video for the song ‘Shangri-La’ can be found at Manami’s website:

http://www.manami-okinawa.com/

 

 

 

 

Okinawa in Edinburgh

The first performance of Okinawan music and dance known as Bottle Mail from Okinawa took place at Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe last Saturday. The 50 minute show by the ‘Ship of the Ryukyu’ collective is directed by Megumi Tomita and will be at the festival until the 24th August. Members of the cast and staff have also been out in the streets of Edinburgh to perform and promote the show.

Bottle Mail from Okinawa was featured here in an earlier post. More details can be found at the Ship of the Ryukyu website:

http://www.shipoftheryukyu.com/bottle-mail.php