, also known as ''kuichaa-aagu'' is a genre of songs from the

Miyako Islands The (also Miyako Jima group) are a group of islands in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, belonging to the Ryukyu Islands. They are situated between Okinawa Island and the Yaeyama Islands. In the early 1870s, the population of the islands was estim ...

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

of southwestern

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. They are performed by a group of young men and women and usually accompany dancing. Like other songs from the Miyako Islands, they have relatively free verse forms. Although Miyako culture is known for epic songs called '' aagu'', ''kuichaa'' lean toward lyric songs.

Songs and dance

Hokama Shuzen hypothesized that the etymology of ''kuichaa'' was ''kui'' (voice,

Standard Japanese is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...

''koe'') and ''ʧaːsu̥'' (to combine, Standard Japanese ''uchi-awasu''). As the etymology suggests, ''kuichaa'' is characterized by group singing. A group of young men and women forms a circle. The dance is a rhythmical and vigorous one, with arms shaking to and fro and left and right, legs stamping on the ground, dancing high and with hands clapping. The themes of song vary. For example, a song titled ''mami ga pana'' features an ordinary Miyako woman who suffered from the

poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...

under the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of Ming dynasty, imperial Ming China by the King of Ryukyu, Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island t ...

Parumizu nu kuichaa

The kuichaa commemorating the abolition of the poll tax. *Pyarumizunu Funatsukinu Sunan Nagunuyo, Yaiyanu Yoima- Nuyuu Sunan Nagunuyo Hinoyoisassai **(meaning) The representatives of farmers reached the port of Pyarumizu with the news of the abolition of Nintōzei taxation. The sand of the seashore is *Awannanari Kuminnanari Agari Kubayo Yaiyanu YohiMah NuYu Agari Kubayo Hinoyoisassai **The sand became millet and rice and men of 30 villages now need not work under the heavy Nintōzei taxation system. *Ugangusu Fujinarabi Burinangamayo Yaiyanu Yoimah Nuyu Burinan Gamanuyoh Hinoyoi Sassai **The waves near Ōgami Island became the threads of Miyako Ori, and therefore, women now need not to weave the Miyako Ori under the heavy Nintōzei taxation system.

Hōnen (Good harvest year) no Kuichaa

*Kutushikara Pazumyasiyo Saa Saa Mirukuyunu Nauraba Yoya Naore Saa Saa *Yoh-iti-ba Yoidakiyo Saa Saa Suruido Kagisanu Yoya Naore **Let' begin from this year, If we begin the year of Miroku (Maitreya), the world will change. **We hope the world will change. It is the good world if we will do anything in accord.

References

Dances of Japan Miyako culture {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuicha