Profiles of Giants of the Ryukyuan Music Performing Arts ④
Aka Inko (late 1400`s – mid 1500`s?)
The origins of the Ryukyuan, or Okinawan Uta-Sanshin is Akainko. Some refute him ever being an actual person, but only myth. He is credited with inventing the first Ryukyuan Sanshin and singing along with it.
Profiles of Giants of the Ryukyuan Music Performing Arts ④
Aka Inko (late 1400`s – mid 1500`s?)
The origins of the Ryukyuan, or Okinawan Uta-Sanshin is Akainko. Some refute him ever being an actual person, but only myth. He is credited with inventing the first Ryukyuan Sanshin and singing along with it. On the other hand, a definite myth says that Akainko was literally born of a red haired dog, hence the name, Aka (red) in (dog), ko(child). Whether he created the first san (three) shin (string) instrument ever seen on the island, or not, is a mute point. The fact is that he was a traveling balladeer and genius. He took local, religious, work, and leisure songs of the common people (normally sung aka-pella up to that point) and put music to them. He did this while memorized the words, inflections, and melodies; instantly fussing sanshin in to the identity of the Okinawan soul and identity. He did all this despite the fact that while most areas he visited had a different dialect from his local area of Nenami, which was in Yomiyamamagiri-aka. (Yomitan village area)
Akainku is reported to have lived around the late 15th century through mid 16th century, during King Sho Shin`s time (1477-1526). It is recorded that Sho Shin, passed a law severely limiting the possession of formal weapons. Instead, the samurai class, began to cultivate there `art`, less in militaristic ways and increasingly through the sanshin, dance, Tea ceremony, calligraphy, and writing ryuka.(Ryukyuan poetry consisting of 8-8-8-6 syllable prose) Much of this ryuka was compiled into an anthology, called the Omoro Soushi, commissioned, again by Sho Shin. On of these verses actually refers to Akainko by name, reaffirming the claim that he is the originator of the art of the Uta―sanshin (Singing sanshin playing).
Uta sanshin nu Nkashi Hajimayi ya,
Inku neagari nu kami nu misaku
Ryuka Hyakkou (1759)百控
Song(with)Sanshin `s longago(`s) Beginning (is)
DogChild(Akainko) soundeast `s god `s Honorable creation
Ryuka 100 verse compilation (1759)
(The long ago beginning of Song with Sanshin is
Akainko, the Honorable creator of the sound of the east)
(Translation by Byron Jones)