| China Sadao 知名定男 | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1945-04-21) April 21, 1945 (age 79) Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Parents |
|
China Sadao (知名定男, 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.
Biography
China Sadao was born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1945, the family moving to Amagasaki in Hyōgo Prefecture in 1951. His father, China Teihan (知名定繁), a musician from Okinawa Prefecture, had moved from Okinawa in search of work, making a living in a spinning mill and by gathering scrap metal from drainage ditches. As a young child, Sadao disliked the nostalgic shima-uta performed by his father and tried to suppress his uchināguchi dialect; he would later recall his embarrassment when his father appeared at an athletics meet with a sanshin and taiko. Nevertheless, he performed in folk songs and dances together with his parents, and in 1951 made his first recording, of the song Deigo Flowers (でいごの花), on the Marufuku Record Label (マルフクレコード). In 1957, father and son returned to Okinawa, where Sadao began his studies, at his father's recommendation, as an uchi-deshi with Okinawan musician Noborikawa Seijin. That same year he made his official debut recording, at the age of twelve, with a performance of the min'yō Suuki kannaa (スーキカンナー). In 1963, after meeting composer Tsuneo Fukuhara, he began to study Western classical music and the classical guitar. His career lasting over sixty years, in December 2020 he performed at a fund-raising concert for the rebuilding of Shuri Castle.
Select discography
- Akabana「赤花」(1978)
- Shima uta「島うた」(1991)
- Shimaya uta-ashibi「島や唄遊び」(1992)
- Ashibi-uta Nasake-bushi「遊び唄 情け節」(1996)
- Utamai「うたまーい」(2005)
- Shima-uta Hyakkei「島唄百景」(2009)
See also
References
- ^ Takahashi Miki 高橋美樹 (2002). 戦後沖縄における民謡歌手の変容 世代別活動スタイルの比較を通して [Changes in the Performing Style of Minyou Singers in Post WWII Okinawa: A comparison of three generations]. Popular Music Studies ポピュラー音楽研究 (in Japanese). 6. The Japanese Association for the Study of Popular Music 日本ポピュラー音楽学会: 17–37 (esp. 24–27, 35). doi:10.11385/jaspmpms1997.6.17.
- "World Routes: Japan, Tokyo and Okinawa - Sadao China, Yoreko Genako, The Rinken Band". BBC. 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- Justin McCurry (17 April 2014). "Okinawa's musicians provide a focus for Japanese protest against US bases". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ 島唄、海超え時超え 知名定男さん [Shima-uta, Crossing Over Seas, Crossing Over Time: China Sadao]. The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 3 July 2005. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- 知名定男、キヨサク、ネーネーズら出演 首里城復興チャリティーライブ 那覇で12月1日 [Starring Sadao China, Kiyosaku, Nenes, etc. Shuri Castle Reconstruction Charity Live, 1 December, Naha]. Ryūkyū Shimpō (in Japanese). 25 November 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- 知名定男がアルバム発表 沖縄民謡の集大成１０１曲 [Sadao China Announces Album: A Collection of 101 Okinawan Folk Songs]. The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 14 December 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
