Biography
Nestled in the southwestern reaches of Japan, the humid, mountainous island of Okinawa lies between the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea and supports a population exceeding one million. Its location near Southeast Asia, China, Taiwan, and Japan, combined with extensive postwar American presence, has produced a singular cultural blend marked by the traces of many distinct traditions. This same layered heritage finds its clearest expression in Okinawan music, which draws together sensibilities from Polynesia, Southeast Asia, the United States, and China. The Rinken Band, the island’s foremost popular-music ensemble, preserves that heritage while reshaping its sound for contemporary listeners.
The group’s origins trace to 1977, when its members first assembled as a backing unit for Sadao China, producer of Nenes. They remained together, formed an independent band, and achieved local prominence in 1985 with the hit song “Arigato.” Subsequent recordings and performances have brought the Rinken Band steadily wider recognition both inside and outside Japan.
Their style merges material from the Okinawan Ei-sa festival—comparable to the Japanese Bon Odori—with min’yo, the longstanding traditional song form of Okinawa, and buoyant pop arrangements. Vocalist Tomoko Uehara, whose airy timbre glides fluidly into croon-like falsetto lines, appears on many of the band’s gentler ballads. In addition to singing, she performs on Okinawan drums, sanbas (castanets), and the sanshin, the three-stringed Okinawan lute fitted with a snakeskin head. The remaining members are Yosimi Kuwae (vocals and Okinawan drums), Katsunori Inafuku (vocals and Okinawan drums), Toyoharu Ookawa (vocals and Okinawan drums), Kazunari Uechi (drumset, Okinawan drums, and sanshin), Akira Uehara (bass), Kiyohito Yamakawa (keyboards), and founder-leader Teruya Rinken (electric and acoustic sanshins).
After more than three decades together and with more than a dozen releases to their credit, the Rinken Band occupies a distinctive position as both innovative musicians of international stature and emissaries of Okinawa’s singular cultural legacy.
The group’s origins trace to 1977, when its members first assembled as a backing unit for Sadao China, producer of Nenes. They remained together, formed an independent band, and achieved local prominence in 1985 with the hit song “Arigato.” Subsequent recordings and performances have brought the Rinken Band steadily wider recognition both inside and outside Japan.
Their style merges material from the Okinawan Ei-sa festival—comparable to the Japanese Bon Odori—with min’yo, the longstanding traditional song form of Okinawa, and buoyant pop arrangements. Vocalist Tomoko Uehara, whose airy timbre glides fluidly into croon-like falsetto lines, appears on many of the band’s gentler ballads. In addition to singing, she performs on Okinawan drums, sanbas (castanets), and the sanshin, the three-stringed Okinawan lute fitted with a snakeskin head. The remaining members are Yosimi Kuwae (vocals and Okinawan drums), Katsunori Inafuku (vocals and Okinawan drums), Toyoharu Ookawa (vocals and Okinawan drums), Kazunari Uechi (drumset, Okinawan drums, and sanshin), Akira Uehara (bass), Kiyohito Yamakawa (keyboards), and founder-leader Teruya Rinken (electric and acoustic sanshins).
After more than three decades together and with more than a dozen releases to their credit, the Rinken Band occupies a distinctive position as both innovative musicians of international stature and emissaries of Okinawa’s singular cultural legacy.
Albums
