It's somewhat ironic that after years of scouring the world for music, Japan's very own "Mr. World Music," Makoto Kubota, has ended up a bit closer to home than he ever imagined. "I never thought there was such a deep, rich folklore in my own country. It was a big surprise" he says.
For years, he has produced and recorded musicians from Indonesia to Brazil, Morocco to Madagascar. His latest discovery and recording project is a group of singing 80-something grandmothers from the Miyako Islands, part of the Ryukyu chain in Okinawa Prefecture, located in the deep south of Japan. These ladies, the eldest in their 90s, together with several others ranging in ages all the way down to 10, will be making their first appearance outside of Miyako when they perform in Tokyo on July 18 and 19.
For Kubota, the discovery was a revelation. "I went there about a year and a half ago and I thought, 'Wow, this place has a different vibe and culture,' and eventually I noticed they speak a different language. What Portugal is to Spain, Okinawa is to Miyako, so naturally, the music is different too."