is a 1992 song by the

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 ...

ese band

The Boom The Boom is a Japanese rock band. Its members are Kazufumi Miyazawa (vocals), (guitar), Yamakawa Hiromasa (bass guitar), and Tochigi Takao (drums). History The four musicians, friends from Yamanashi Prefecture, formed the band in 1986 as a ...

. It was written by the lead singer,

Kazufumi Miyazawa is the founder of the Japanese bands The Boom and Ganga Zumba. The former was noted in the 1990s for a fusion of rock, pop, and local Okinawan folk music. Miyazawa is responsible for virtually all lyrics and music for The Boom, who are best ...

, based on his impressions from visiting

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

for a photo shoot. It is the band's best selling song, well known throughout Japan and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and one of the most widely known songs associated with Okinawa although the band members are all from

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

. The song uses a mix of modern pop and rock styles as well as

min'yō , ''Nihon min'yō'', Japanese ''min'yō'' or Japanese folk music is a genre of traditional Music of Japan, Japanese music. Characteristics Styles Many ''min'yō'' are connected to forms of work or to specific trades and were originally su ...

. Okinawan musical instruments and Okinawan vocabulary have been incorporated into the song. The song itself was used in an advertising campaign for the Xi brand

awamori ''Awamori'' (, Okinawan: , ) is an alcoholic beverage indigenous and unique to Okinawa, Japan. It is made from long grain indica rice, and is not a direct product of brewing (like ''sake'') but of distillation (like ''shōchū''). The majorit ...

Origin

In a 2003 interview for fRoots, Miyazawa explained that he got the idea for the song after speaking with Okinawan survivors of the US invasion of Okinawa during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In another interview, Miyazawa explained that most Okinawan casualties were not caused by American troops, but by Japan's instructions to commit suicide rather than surrender. While the song does not specify who the people being separated are, Miyazawa stated in the 2002 interview, "It is about the separation of a man and a woman, a separation that they couldn't control, and didn't want."

Okinawan influence

In fact, the term ''

shima-uta is a genre of songs originating from the Amami Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture of southwestern Japan. It became known nationwide in the 2000s with the success of young pop singers from Amami Ōshima such as Hajime Chitose and Kousuke Atari, Atari ...

'' originally refers to traditional folk songs of the

Amami Islands The The name ''Amami-guntō'' was standardized on February 15, 2010. Prior to that, another name, ''Amami shotō'' (奄美諸島), was also used. is a Japanese archipelago in the Satsunan Islands, which is part of the Ryukyu Islands, and is sout ...

. It is not a native term of Okinawa but was introduced from Amami in the 1970s. Uehara Naohiko, Okinawa's influential radio personality and songwriter, borrowed the term from Amami and give a new meaning to the term. He used his radio programs and musical events to popularize the name of ''shima-uta'' in Okinawa. Miyazawa first heard Okinawan-influenced music from

Haruomi Hosono , sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop f ...

in the 1970s. Later, he asked friends to bring him tapes from the island, as Okinawan music was not readily available in Japan. Miyazawa said in the 2003 interview, Miyazawa plays the

sanshin The is a Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyuan musical instrument and precursor of the mainland Japanese (). Often likened to a banjo, it consists of a snakeskin-covered body, neck and three strings. Origins The sanshin is believed to have originated fro ...

, the Okinawan precursor to the

shamisen The , also known as or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually b ...

, when singing "Shima Uta" in concert.

Release history

There were initially two versions of "Shima Uta" released by The Boom. The first release is the which is sung partly in Japanese and partly in Okinawan (''uchinaaguchi''), and was released as a single on December 12, 1992. The followed on June 21, 1993, and is sung entirely in Japanese, although some words from Okinawan remain (such as ウージ ''uuji'', which means sugarcane ). These versions of the song were performed at the 44th annual ''

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

''. The Boom periodically re-released "Shima Uta", first on October 5, 2001, as a rearranged version as a double A-side to their song "Kamisama no Hōseki de Dekita Shima" which was later remixed for the band's 2002 album ''Okinawa: Watashi no Shima''. 2002 also saw the release of a new "Shima Uta" single on May 22 which included vocals from Argentine vocalist

Alfredo Casero Alfredo Casero (born 12 November 1962) is an Argentine musician, actor and comedian. Casero began studying acting with Norman Briski in 1987. Soon after he started working in the underground humour scene of Buenos Aires. In 1992 he created, a ...

who became famous in his own right for his cover of the song. The Boom with Casero performed this version at the 53rd ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen''. On March 20, 2013, The Boom released a new 20th anniversary version of the song and single.

Music video

The music video for "Shima Uta" was filmed on Okinawa Prefecture's

Taketomi Island is an island in the town of Taketomi, within Yaeyama District of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Taketomi is one of the Yaeyama Islands. The population of Taketomi Island was 323 as of January 2012. Geography Taketomi Island is located south of I ...

, with Taketomi Village's "traditional Okinawan" houses featured prominently along with local flora and fauna. For the 20th anniversary version, The Boom returned to Taketomi and filmed local residents, as well as some other notable residents of Okinawa Prefecture, lip syncing the song with Miyazawa's vocals.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by many artists, including

Gackt , better known as Gackt (stylized in all caps), is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. Born in Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa to a Ryukyuan people, Ryukyuan family, Gackt learned the piano at a young age and was rai ...

Rimi Natsukawa is a Japanese singer. She is best known for her 2001 single " Nada Sōsō." Childhood Natsukawa was born in Ishigaki, the largest city in the Yaeyama Islands chain. From a young age she enjoyed singing, and wanted to be a singer after heari ...

Tokiko Kato is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist, actress and activist. She was born in Harbin, Manchukuo, to Japanese parents and graduated from the University of Tokyo. She worked as a visiting professor at Josai International University. While b ...

, Plastiko,

Diana King Diana King (born 8 November 1970) is a Jamaican singer-songwriter who performs a mixture and fusion of reggae, reggae fusion and dancehall. They are best known for their hit 1995 single " Shy Guy" and their remake of " I Say a Little Prayer ...

, Andrew W.K., Willy Sabor and

Allister Allister is an American pop-punk band from Chicago, Illinois. The four-piece formed in 1994 as Phineas Gage when the original band members were still in high school. In 1998, Allister became one of the first bands to sign to Drive-Thru Records ...

Gackt

The

's version features taiko drums, traditional dancers and singers, and

China Sadao (born 21 April 1945) is a Japanese musician active in the Okinawan music and shima-uta scene, as a performer on the sanshin, min'yō folk singer, song-writer, and producer, having been responsible in 1990 for the formation of the Nēnēs. Bi ...

player/min'yō singer.

Alfredo Casero

The 2001 version by Casero won three awards at Premios Gardel, the "Argentine Grammy Awards." In 2002 the Casero version was voted the theme song for the Argentina football (soccer) team's

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. A Japanese football fan club, Ultras Nippon, also used Shima Uta as their theme song. "Shima Uta" was the first Argentine hit song to be sung entirely in Japanese. It stayed on the top of the charts for six months. Miyazawa and Casero sing together in concert when Miyazawa tours Brazil and Argentina.

Andrew W.K.

American musician Andrew W.K. recorded his own version of the song for his album ''

The Japan Covers ''Premium Collection: The Japan Covers'', known as in Japan, is a cover version, cover album by Andrew W.K. The album, consisting of covers of various J-pop songs, was released in Japan by Universal Music Group on November 26, 2008. The songs we ...

''.ANDREW W.K.:: DISCOGRAPHY ::
UMusic Japan, November 2008. Retrieved 11/21/08 It uses the same translation as Izzy Cooper used in her versions, adding the dedication line at the end. He performs the song over synthesizers.

Allister

Shima Uta can be found on the Japanese version of the 2005 album Before the Blackout, performed in Japanese.

References

{{reflist

External links

島歌 (Shima Uta) / Island song
lyrics in English 1992 songs Japanese songs Songs written by Kazufumi Miyazawa