Okinawa was controlled by the US military until 1972, so it wasn't until after it reverted to Japan that the tourism trade magnified the local culture into something that was a spectacle instead of just a way of life. Although I grew up listening to this music, I had never before visited such a place to see it on exhibit in this way. The stringed instrument is called a "sanshin" and the distinctive local music is known as island songs, "shima-uta."
