Okinawan Folk Music Master is Walking on Island Song Journey for 30 Years
Cultural News, September 2004
 
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Ryukyu minyo master Haruo Ishihara, center, will present the 30th anniversary of his career at Armstrong Theater on Sunday, October 10. (Cultural News Photo)
 
By Beth Bloom
 
  On Monday night in Gardena, the meeting of Haruo Ishihara’s Ryukyu Minyo Kenkyusho (Folk Music Institute) feels like a gathering of Okinawan friends. Students who trickle in before the 7:00 p.m. start time chat as they tune their instruments and look over music notes from a previous class.
 
  They sit in folding chairs around a row of joined square card tables like an extended family gathered for Thanksgiving. In fact, the group breaks for a mid-class meal made up of communal contributions.
 
  On Ishihara’s cue, the group starts to play and sing a classic number “Yutaka Bushi”, a piece that emphasizes the importance of thinking positively and becoming a better person.
 
 Waking up every morning with a smile will bring fortune / positively will bring piece on earth.
 
  The group is preparing for their October 10 (2004) performance at Torrance’s James Armstrong Theater that will mark the 30th Anniversary of Ishihara’s career in the field.
 
   Music has had a long history as an expression of happiness and prosperity in the Ryukyu islands. Today the tradition continues as a means of conveying the thoughts and emotions of contemporary Okinawan people. Folk songs are accompanied by the sanshin (Okinawan shamisen), a three-stringed, plucked banjo-like instrument with a body wrapped in python skin or similarly printed nylon. Okinawa’s peaceful beginnings allowed a tendency toward the sanshin over the sword as the instrument of choice.
 
   Born in Nago City, Okinawa, Ishihara began his formal minyo training at 19, when he knocked on the door of Saburo Onaga a master teacher in Urasoe City.
“My father was a master folk musician,” Ishihara says. “I’ve listened to the music since I was little.” But, like many young children, he wasn’t interested in learning from his father. “He was a little strict,” he continued. “I should have learned from him, but I didn’t.”
 
  Ishihara, 55, came to the United States in 1977 as a refrigeration systems engineer. Looking to improve upon the training he received from Mitsubishi Manufacturing in Nagoya, he was surprised to find American technology far behind that of Japan.
 
  Living in Riverside, Ishihara became aware of an interest in Okinawan culture among some area residents. In 1982 he opened his home as a studio to teach the art of the song and music that make up Ryukyu minyo. The group performed in various shows at Little Tokyo’s Aratani/Japan America Theatre and in the Okinawa Association of America’s annual showcase of Okinawan traditional dance and music.
 
   By summer of 2003, demand for Ishihara’s instruction west of the Inland Empire became so great that he started a second class at Gardena Dance Studio across the street of the Okinawa Association’s building. Now he has about 25 students between the two locations.
  
  As Monday’s session continues, latecomers join in, seamlessly adding volume to the instruments and dimension to the group’s vocalizations. Seniority is apparent with newer students identifiable by their glances at musical cheat sheets. But, in Ishihara’s class, seniority doesn’t necessarily correlate with age.
 
  Pedro Agena, 50, marks the fretless neck of his sanshin with temporary stickers while Ishihara’s 12 year-old grandson Sidney Hidaka relies on his fingers to lead the way.
 
 Cathy Poon began studying minyo 12 years ago, joining Ishihara last summer. Now, at 50, she feels like she is connecting with her roots. “My grandparents used to play Okinwan music on the radio and I would think, ‘my god, how could they listen to that?’” Poon says. “But as you get older you get an appreciation for it.”
 
  “I love it,” says Kyle Yamashiro, a fifth-grader who will take part in the upcoming performance.
 
  Many of the songs are sung in Okinwan Hogen, an early island tongue that suffered near extinction due to cultural assimilation to Japanese language and customs. The language is no longer used in the day-to-day though recent years have seen increased popularity of island culture in mainstream society as well as a resurgence in Okinawan language preservation.
 
  The October event will include performances by Ishihara’s Gardena and Riverside classes as well as guest performances by local Okinawan dance groups. Visiting cultural arts masters from Hawaii (Grant “Sandaa” Murata, Chikako Murata, June Nakama) and Okinawa (Kazumori Shimabukuro, Kimiko Takasaki) as well as Ryukyu Minyo Kyokai President Masao Uyehara will also perform.
 
  The anniversary event, called Shima Uta Tabiji (island song journey), will represent the years of Ishihara’s dedication to the field. “I hope the younger generations will become interested in Okinawan culture,” says Ishihara. “They can take over the music.”
 
   Shima Uta Tabiji. Sunday, Oct. 10 (2004), 2 p.m. $25 donation. James Armstrong Theater. 330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance. (310) 781-7171.
 
      Beth Bloom received a B.A. in Sociology from UCLA. She lived in Japan for part of 2002 and 2003 and has written for weekly papers in Los Angeles and Virgaina.