WOMAD

Nenes

From Japan

The island of Okinawa lies about 500km south of the main Japanese islands and has, over the centuries, been conquered by China as well as Japan. Its history and geography combine to give Okinawa its own distinct culture, with music that is often based around the sanshin, a three-string banjo. In the old city of Koza (now known as Okinawa City), festivals are frequent. And at Koza’s festivals, you can usually see Nenes.Over the past five years, Nenes have acquired an international reputation, as well as some heavyweight fans. Ry Cooder has played on one album with them; Talvin Singh, one of the stars of the Asian underground in Britain, wants to record with them; while Michael Nyman has become so enchanted with the band and Okinawan music that he now wants to make the study of it his life’s work.Nenes means “sisters” in the Okinawan dialect. The group comprises four women – Yasuko Yoshida, Namiko Miyazato, Yukino Hiyane and Eriko Touma, who replaced former leader Misako Koja last year. They specialise in Okinawan ballads, songs that can make even the most lachrymose country and western tune sound cheerful. Although they use traditional Okinawan katcharsee song structure, where the sanshin holds both rhythm and melody while tuned drums help to carry the tune, they also add new flavours – Indonesian pop, reggae and even, on their latest album, rap. It all blends well, but it’s the voices, not the band, that capture the ear and the heart – four perfectly balanced harmony vocals that charm and entrance. Recently, Nenes have been backed by the Sadao China Gakudan band, led by Sadao China who has been producing Nenes’s albums since 1991 and had a successful solo career of his own before that.