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 Shimauta (the island song)
Shimauta was edited as a single in Okinawa in 1992, but it crossed the island's frontier soon. It was edited in all Japan in june 1993 and became a great hit.
According to its author: "It's a very spiritual song, which I became the idea of it while visiting Okinawa's island. It is about the separation of a man and a woman, a separation that they couldn't control, and didn't want."
 Shima Uta
Deigo no hana ga saki
Kaze wo yobi arashi ga kita
Deigo ga saki midare
Kaze wo yobi arashi ga kita
Kurikaesu kanashimi wa
Shima wataru nami no yoo
Uuji no mori de anata to deai
Uuji no shita de chiyo ni sayonara
(1)
Shima uta yo kaze ni nori
Tori to tomo ni umi wo watare
Shima uta yo kaze ni nori
Todokete okure watashi no namida
Deigo no hana mo chiri
Sazanami ga yureru dake
Sasayakana shiawase wa
Uta kata no nami no hana
Uuji no mori de utatta tomo yo
Uuji no shita de hachiyo no wakare
(2)
Shima uta yo kaze ni nori
Tori to tomo ni umi wo watare
Shima uta yo kaze ni nori
Todokete okure watashi no ai wo
Umi yo uchuu yo kami yo inochi yo
Kono mama towa ni yuunagi wo
(1)
(2)
Lara Lara ...
- Song and lyrics: Kazufumi Miyazawa -
Lyrics Translation
As the Deigo flower
begins to bloom,
gale starts.
When it has bloomed,
storm comes.
Then a great tempest and a lot of sadness
cross the island.
Inside a forest I found you,
and inside a forest
we separate...
Island's song, get in the wind with the birds
and go through the distance of the seas to take
this message pure
and our spilled tears
Our small happiness
of singing
to the waves of Deigo flower,
inside the forest I will sing
untill the end of my live.
But I sing this song to be heared by everybody
and feel that war
and tempest
are one of the sad things
for those who remain in this island.
God, Creator, allow us to take this message pure
all around the world. Translation:
About Kazufumi Miyazawa
When talking about Kazufumi Miyazawa, he is refered as japanese Charly Garcia. This is not the only comparison he has been made during his professional carrer. The New York Times of his native country has described him to be as japanese Paul Simon or David Byrne of the future.
Miya has a long and extended trajectory and his work has been influenced by most traditional japanese music, britanic rock, reggae and brasilian tropicalism.
 Miya is The Boom's leader, band integrated by Takashi Kobayashi —guitar—, Hiromasa Yamakowa —bass— y Takao Tochigui —drums—. The Boom began singing covers from The Police in Din Alley, a fashion bar in Tokio. All four musicians were school mates in Kofú city (63 miles from Tokio). The band was born in 1986, began recordings since 1988 and they are now on the 9th record. Miya has two solo records: Love is dangerous (1994) together with jamaican reggae singer Yami Bolo; Aforsik (1998) in Brazil with Carlinhos Brown.
During the years, Miya has recorded and played with musicians like Gilberto Gil, Dominic Miller and Manu Katche (both from Sting's band) and with his own band has been the background supporting singers to Sheryl Crow, in Montreaux Festival.
To compose, Miya uses piano as well as guitar. Shimauta was composed with the sanshin, which is a three-stringed banjo with a resonance box covered with snake skin (the one in the picture below). It's a traditional Okinawan instrument, with which musicians got in touch in january, 1992. And the world's nowadays hit was born then.
(Extracted from Clarín, April 28th 2002)
Interview with Kazufumi Miyazawa
This is a story about coincidences and fortuitousnesses. The first one is known, but it will be useful to repeat it. Alfredo Casero uses to eat japanese food at the Nikkai restorant, where Gustavo Agarige, descendent of a family of okinawa, works. Once he told to Alfredo Casero: "I've got a song for you". Then he gave him Shimauta (island's song), sung by the composer Kazufumi Miyazawa, leader of the group The Boom. Casero heared it and liked it. He decided to include it in Casaerius, his last work. The theme —sung in perfect japanese by the actor— became a hit, and won a Gardel prize as the year's song (Casero took a total of four prizes). It will be included in a disk that will be edited and internationally launched for the next World Cup.
Kazufumi Miyazawa (Miya, for the friends) is now in Argentina to know the corpulent character who made his song famous in this country. Miya is 36 years old, small and serious, but also charming. He has an anime character appearance, his eyes show tiredness (it's obvious, he flew 27 hours from Japan) but he is enthusiastic. Casero asks if he also may appear in the photographs. "The guy is a big one, I'm just a guest"
As the good star he is indeed (the disk Shishunki, which included Shimauta had one millon and a half sales in Japan) Miya is not alone. He is escorted by his musical director Shin Miyoshi —who shows in his handheld computer photographs of himself with Mick Jagger,Bob Marley, AC/DC, Marillion, etc. the guy shows that he is at the top and that he leaded these artists to Japan— a personal assistant, one executive of Japan's discographic company, two from local company and a translator. Seeing to believe, the japanese part of the delegation takes photographs an records in video every step of Miya, including the interview.
- What is Shimauta about?
- It's a very spiritual song, which I became the idea of it while visiting Okinawa's island. It is about the separation of a man and a woman, a separation that they couldn't control, and didn't want.
In a very measured way, Miya gives more details. "The song has a very long history. When the United States were about to invade Japan during the Second World War II, the country was instructing people telling them, "before USA has you, kill yourself". In Okinawa 200.000 people died. And most of them weren't killed by USA." And at last he says: "They hid under the earth."
Casero says: "It's a cosmic coincidence, something from God. The song is about a great injustice related to war. And it reaches here in a moment of injustice, and highlights who are our enemies and against whom we rise up."
The fact that the song will be part of Corea's and Japan's World Cup doesn't worry them at all. Miya doesn't want people thinking in Japan that Casero sings Shimauta to promote the World Cup. And he also says that he will invite Casero to sing with te group together in Japan and show the public that the message is different. Casero says he doesn't know how and where the song will be included. More coincidences: both of them doesn't like soccer very much. They reminds a past as baseball players. "A japanese playing baseball is very common, but an argentinian confessing it is atypical.", laughs Casero.
- Miya, what did you feel when you heared your song beeng sung by an argentinian?
- I would have never think that Alfredo didn't know japanese. When you hear someone singing in another language, you can notice soon if he understand the meaning of what he or she is singing. And the feeling he gave to the song was the right one, word by word.
Casero feels very proud and tells us that the shots in the video he made were the last taken. When Claudia Ashiro (with her Casero sings the theme) told him that it were perfect, it was really like she said. After that, other japanese friends told him the same. When he sung it in the Japanese Garden (Jardín Japonés) and saw old japanese men crying, he belived it at last. "I thought they cry because I'm doing it very bad, or I'm really good".
As coincidences continue, Casero tells us that when he received The Boom videos, most of them recorded in 1992, he found them very similar to his own TV program Cha cha chá. "These videos had a very strange humour" -he says- "Nothing that someone could expect from a japanese". After that he gave his definition of Miya as an artist: "a digital and analog mix. A guy who tells you everything's in order, but also capable to break this order to sing."
After Casero says that he wants to dignify Miya, that he will take him to Tigre islands in his tiny ship ("to be eaten by mosquitos"), that he will prepare roasted meat to him (very popular in Argentina), that they are going to eat bolivian empanadas in his house, that they are going to meet his friend Jose, as there always gathers Trío Palermo to play tango ("that kind of tango isn't for tourists" he explains). He wants to show Miya the real Argentina. He says "It's not the same to know you that to know Marcela Tinayre".
Aya Ito, the efficient translator, translates one by one Casero's words. Miya laughs more and more. They met just one hour ago, but seem to be very old friends. "By knowing him I feel less alone" says Casero. He dreams to take Miya by his friends in Puerto Madryn, and to perform a concert in Ushuaia together.
"Miya, you should take your band here, we gonna organize something in a big theater. It's enough if just the musicians come. Here we can find the rest of the people, we gonna do it the argentinian way" Casero says enthusiastic.
Miya shows himself very gentle too. "I sung Shimauta in San Pablo with okinawans. Now Alfredo sung it here with okinawans too. I'm very happy because that energy is spreading throughout the world. I think now it is our song, Alfredo's and mine"
"Eeeesa!" —Casero celebrates— "If I ever go to Japan, I will tell everybody that argentinians aren't the bad boys of the world, and that we don't want to refuse to pay our external debt because we are undisciplined or traitors. The only thing Japan needs to change is love, because they have troubles too. And we also need someone who love us. And if we are not loved, we will show everybody that we should. I will tell them we are intelligent people, that we are well prepared to fight or to negotiate, but just as humans. He came here as a human, no corporation brought him here. So we gonna understand ourselves. A heart is an army." says Casero
To take the photographs, we asked Miya to write over a black background some japanese characters with a spray. He likes the idea and writes down part of Shimauta lyrics. As the big boy he is, Casero wants to take this painted background to his house. The proof of a growing friendship and admiration.
(Extracted from Clarín, April 28th 2002)
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Shimauta
Original Theme (4,8Mb 128Kbps)
