Simple Sanshin Source

Aha Bushi （安波節）

This one is another common starting song for begging sanshin players because of its easy to remember rhythm. The lyrics are also slow, and paced very closely to the strumming of the sanshin, so new singers should also be able to pick it up fairly quickly.

If you haven’t noticed, this song is sung with two breathes per line!
The first line of the song goes:

[breathe] kariyushi nu ashibi [breathe] hari uchi haritikaraya
(Basically, you only break once, and right before “hari.”)

Give the song a listen and you’ll notice the breathes.


Lyrics:
一、かりゆしぬ遊び ハリ うち晴りてぃからや
　（かりゆしぬあしび はり うちはりてぃからや）

二、夜ぬ明あきてぃ太てぃ陽だぬ ハリ 上がる迄までぃん
　（ゆぬあきてぃてぃだぬ はり あがるまでぃまでぃん）

三、夜ぬ明あきてぃ太てぃ陽だや ハリ 上がらわんゆたさ
（ゆぬあきてぃてぃだや はり あがらわんゆたさ）

四、乙午時までぃん ハリ 御祝さびさびら
（みんまどぅちまでぃん はり うゆうえさびさびら）

五、安波ぬ真はんたや ハリ 肝むすがりどぅくる
（あはぬまはんたや　はり　ちむすがりどぅくる）

六、奥くぬ松下や ハリ 寝になし所どぅくる
（うくぬまちしちゃや はり になしどぅくどぅくる）


Romanji Version:
kariyushi nu ashibi hari uchihari tikaraya

yu nu aki ti ti da nu hari agaruma di madin

yu nu aki ti ti da ya hari agarawan yutasa

minmaduchi madin hari uyuesa sabi sabira

aha nu ma hantaya hari chimusu gari dukuru

uku nu machi shicha ya hari ni nashi duku dukuru

Request: Send me your kunkunshi scans!

Hey guys,

I’m currently without a scanner, which makes it super difficult to post kunkunshi. If you would like to contribute to the site, please e-mail me your scanned 工工四. I’ll select the ones I find to be most accurate to what I’ve heard in Okinawa, and will post them up here with a romanji translation and a small description of what the song is about.

Thanks :)

-Kenji

Update: FORUM?!?!

Alright, I took the hint.

I noticed people discussing things amongst themselves on the site via comments, but I’ve never liked communicating through comments when I’m trying to have a conversation, so I took the next step and created a forum for the site! Facebook, although great for linking people, is incredibly lacking compared to what php/bb forums can do, so let’s see how creating an online community for the sanshin can do.

sanshin.freeforums.org

Update: That was some insane downtime.

I’m finally back! Life has it’s quirks, and so I’ve been unable to keep up with this site as well as many of my other blogs. Hopefully that will all change now that I’ve settled down in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Expect further postings and updates to come!

Waido Bushi （ワイド節）

(Donated kunkunshi and lyrics. Thanks to Martin in Argentina!)

Update: Continued downtime

Just another update on the downtime. I’m roughly a week away from moving back to the States, and needless to say, I’m incredibly busy. I would have loved to put up some simple kunkunshi only posts as eye candy until I can get back and serious, but I just haven’t had the time. My apologies!

Hopefully my move will be a quick one, but I wouldn’t expect any big posts until I’m settled with stable internet and a scanner.

~kenji

Update: Recent downtime

Sorry for the recent lack of posts! It’s a busy season here in Okinawa, Japan. Old students leaving or graduating, new students pouring in, and me currently in the middle of a move.

However, I’ll try to keep on updating through all this business.

Also, thanks to those constantly contributing to the site through comments or kunkunshi donations! In this busy season, such help is invaluable to a single-handed amateur site like this one.

Kanikubata （かにくばた）

(Donated kunkunshi and lyrics. Thank you!)

The song is about a girl (Kanikubata) who is forced to immigrate somewhere else, in search of work and has to leave her place of birth. The song are wishes for her happiness later in the future.


Lyrics:
1、かにくばたよ　抱きみぶすぶなりゃがま
ユイサースウーリーヌ(←ハヤシ１）、ブナリャガマ
サーハラユイサークラユイサッサ
ウッショーシショウノニングルマトマトヨォ（←ハヤシ２）

2、あらすぬ麦だきよ　むとぅいかぎぶなりゃがま
(ハヤシ１）ブナリャガマ（ハヤシ２）

3、野原地ぬ豆抱きよ　やつかふぬ莢(さや)ぬにゃん
(ハヤシ１）莢(さや)ぬにゃん（ハヤシ２）

4、あとゆかずよ　すうらゆかずばんたがむてぃ
（ハヤシ１）ばんたがむてぃ（ハヤシ２）

5、女子（ぶなりょぉ）ばよ　かぐんな乗し大浦（ウプラ）んかい


Romanji Version:
1) Kanikubata yo dakimi busu bun narya gama
yoisaa, souri-nu (***HAYASHI 1) bun narya gama,
sa hara yoisa-a kura yoi sassa
usshou shi shou no nin guru mato mato yo (***HAYASHI 2)

2) Ara su nu mugi daki-yo mutui kagi bun narya gama
(HAYASHI 1) bun narya gama (HAYASHI 2)

3) subarisu nu mami daki-yo yakka funu saya nu nyan
(HAYASHI 1) saya nu nyan (HAYASHI 2)

4) ato yu kazu-yo sura yu kazu banta gamuti
(HAYASHI 1) banta gamuti (HAYASHI 2)

5) bunaryo bayo kagun-na nushi ubura nkai

Mensoure （めんそーれ）

(I dictated the notes and a friend wrote it down for me, so sorry for the messy handwriting.)

This song was composed by one of the National Living Treasures of the sanshin—master Choichi Terukina. It came into my possession in a rather interesting way. A student of Terukina sensei was a classmate of mine at RyuDai, and he was more than willing to teach me to sing and play the sanshin after class. Mensoure was one of the first ones he taught me, and since he never learned to read kunkunshi—he always learned songs by eye and ear—the only way he could teach me was by getting me watch and listen. Kinda like the old Ryukyu days, no? Anyways, since then I’ve gone on to teach the song in the same way, but for some, kunkunshi was just easier. (Hence, the piece of music you see before you.)

Also, being a nikkeijin, he able to speak Japanese, but not write it so well. He ended up writing down the lyrics for me in romanji. Good luck for us I suppose. =D

For those who don’t know, “mensoure” is Uchinaguchi for “welcome,” and that’s pretty much what the song is. A welcoming song.

めんそーれ

Travel with a snakeskin sanshin?

Question: Have you asked about traveling with a snakeskin sanshin before?

I can honestly say that I have! I spoke with the second in command at Chindami Kougei, and since he has gone abroad to perform the sanshin in Brazil before, I asked if he’s had any problems taking snakeskin sanshin into other countries. He said he hadn’t had any problems going into Brazil with seven or so sanshin, but he ran into trouble in Hawaii when trying to bring in over 20 snakeskin sanshin. I asked, “Uhm… what about just one sanshin?” To which he laughed, “If it’s just one you probably don’t have to worry.”

So there you have it. Since the Okinawan sanshin is not a well known instrument, just saying “I don’t know what it’s made of” will let you slide through customs—if they check you that is. For me, when traveling with my non-snakeskin sanshin, I was never even asked to open my sanshin case. All they asked was “Instrument?” And gave me the go ahead. This was the case in both Japan and the US, traveling back and forth.

Sanshin playing robot

Created by the electrical engineering department at Ryukyu University, these two robots can play over 50 different Okinawan folk songs.

Sorry for the video’s poor quality, but the only video camera I had on me was my phone.

Shima Uta (島唄)

Shima Uta is actually a Japanese pop song associated with Okinawa, and well known throughout the world. The “island song” has garnered popularity from China to Argentina, and versions of this song can be found in languages from Okinawan to Spanish.


Lyrics:
でいごの花が咲き　風を呼び嵐がきた

でいごが咲き乱れ　風を呼び嵐がきた
繰り返す悲しみは　島渡る波の様
ウージの森で　あなたと出逢い　　　　（※ウージはさとうきび）
ウージの下で　千代(ﾁﾖ)にさよなら
島唄よ風に乗り　鳥とともに海を渡れ
島唄よ風に乗り　届けておくれ
私の涙

でいごの花も散り　さざ波がゆれるだけ
ささやかな幸せは　うたかたの波の花
ウージの森で　歌った友よ
ウージの下で　八千代(ﾔﾁﾖ)の別れ
島唄よ風に乗り　鳥とともに海を渡れ
島唄よ風に乗り　届けておくれ
私の愛を

海よ宇宙よ　神よ命よ
このまま永久(ﾄﾜ)に　夕凪を

島唄よ風に乗り　鳥とともに海を渡れ
島唄よ風に乗り　届けておくれ
私の涙
島唄よ風に乗り　鳥とともに海を渡れ
島唄よ風に乗り　届けておくれ
私の愛を
ララ　ララララ　ラララララ　・・・・・



Romanji version:
Deigo no hana ga saki kaze wo yobi arashi ga kita
Deigo ga sakimidare kaze wo yobi arashi ga kita
Kurikaesu kanashimi wa shima wataru nami no you

Uuji no mori de anata to deai
Uuji no shita de chiyo ni sayonara

Shima uta yo kaze ni nori tori to tomo ni umi wo watare
Shima uta yo kaze ni nori todokete okure watashi no namida

Deigo no hana mo chiri saza nami ga yureru dake
Sasayakana shiawase wa utakata no nami no hana

Uuji no mori de utatta tomo yo
Uuji no shita de yachiyo no wakare

Shimau uta yo kaze ni nori tori to tomo ni umi wo watare
Shima uta yo kaze ni nori todokete okure watashi no ai wo

Umi yo uchuu yo kami yo inochi yo kono mama towa ni yuunagi wo

Shima uta yo kaze ni nori tori to tomo ni umi wo watare
Shima uta yo kaze ni nori todokete okure watashi no namida
Shima uta yo kaze ni nori tori to tomo ni umi wo watare
Shima uta yo kaze ni nori todokete okure watashi no ai wo

Update: Traffic and posts

Hey guys! Sorry for the past two weeks of inactivity, but it’s been a busy start to 2009. I’ve gotten a few requests for more kunkunshi, and I plan to scan and upload these as soon as I can:

Shima Uta　（島唄）
Shimanchu nu Takara　（島人ぬ宝）
Menso-re　（めんそーれ）

I’d also like to announce that simplesanshin.com’s ranking on google searches has risen! Thanks for the support and e-mails, and I’ll do my best to keep this site going while I avoid infringing any copyrights. I’ll also work on making another one of my random videos.

*Corrections:
I’ve corrected the post about setting the uma. You want to make sure the slanted side of the uma faces “inwards” towards the neck of the sanshin.

Toushindooi （唐船ドーイ）

Toushindooi is a fast paced celebration song where people dance kachashi (カチャーシー). “Toushindooi” during the Ryukyu Kingdom era meant “a (trade) ship is coming!” The song is played nowadays for to end parties, gatherings, or events.


Lyrics:
唐船（とうしん）ドーイさんてーまん
いっさん走（は）えならんしや
若狭（わかさ）町村（まちむら）ぬ　さー瀬名波（しなふぁ）ぬ　タンメー
ハイヤ　センスル　ユイヤナ



Romanji version:
Toushindooi santeeman
Issan haenaranshiya yuiyana
Wakasa machimura nu saashinafa nu tanmee
Haiya sensuru yuiyana