Hear it for Yourself

One of the side effects of war is a cultural one. In Okinawa, consumed by fire at the end of WWII, people running for their lives very seldom took musical instruments with them. With the exception of sanshin, whose rock-hard wooden shafts were useful tools in climbing through snake-infested, overgrown jungle, the wooden instruments burned.

After the war ended and people resettled themselves, finding food took priority over making music. By the time they had a chance to remember the good old days, the good old boys who made the music had mostly died of old age. With no instruments, no makers of instruments, and no teachers of the songs, traditional music became only a memory.

Think of it like this: if pressed, your average American could probably sing a recognizable rendition of Yankee Doodle. But could he reproduce George Gershwin from memory? That's without a piano, by the way.

That was the problem. They remembered it existed, they remembered they liked it, but the surviving Okinawans couldn't reproduce it.

A few study groups were established to collect what remained and teach it. One such study group scoured the world for information about traditional court music, reputed to be healing to the soul.

For a sample, try this link. I recommend scrolling 'way far down until you get to the sample of uzugaku. Uzugaku is a beautiful result of the long history of exchange between Okinawa and China.

http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/014/en/8gallery/index.html