Artist Info: Tetsuhiro Daiku

Tetsuhiro Daiku (大工哲弘) was born in 1949 on Ishigaki Island, the most populated of the Yaeyama islands. Situated 429km south-west of the main Okinawan island, these sub-tropical islands are the very last trickle of Japan. On a clear day it's possible to make out the mountains of Taiwan, just over 100 km to the east.

Yaeyama shima uta (island songs) has fundamental differences to that of the main Okinawan island such as the scale and vocal technique. [read more...]