Each member of Churashima Navigator has covered and remixed Misako Oshiro’s debut song, “Unrequited Love,” with respect and gratitude. Release Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
[Scheduled for release on October 2] “SHIMA DUB LP,” a 9-track vinyl reissue of the album *Shima DUB*—originally released on CD in 2013 by Harikuyamaku, Okinawa’s world-renowned DUB artist—will be released by Honey Records, headed by Yasu-Pacino.
One of Em RECORDS’ finest releases. A reissue with a new sleeve design. The 2026 version. Limited edition. This dream of a record pairs the killer 1977 recording known as “Ryukyu Pet Sounds” with a remix by the legendary “Fourth World” duo, Visible Cloaks.
EM Records has unearthed a masterful performance of the Ryukyuan classical piece “Kajadi Fūbushi.” This remastered reissue features a recording by Jun Niizaki and Nine Sheep, which was originally captured during a television appearance. Furthermore, the remix by Visible Cloaks—a key figure behind the reevaluation of Japanese ambient music via RVNG ...Read more (Original Japanese text by Saito)Intl.—is simply magnificent. It represents the pinnacle of New Age and inner-mind psychedelic music. (Original Japanese text by Saito)
[Repressed to coincide with the new release] Shima's (Shimazu), the DJ unit made up of Churashima Navigator's Nu-doh and ISLAND HERLEM's SHINGO (MC), delivers a 7-inch pairing the Okinawan folk children's song "Akata Sundunchi" with "Sleng Teng," the riddim that revolutionized the reggae world in the '80s. The flip features "Tinsagu nu Hana" with Itsumi Higa (vocals, sanshin) plus MARINO (sax), a Miyakojima native known for her work with Black Wax and as a support player for Mariko Hamada. Recording and editing by HARIKUYAMAKU, one of Okinawa's leading artists.
DJ Nu-doh(Churashima Navigator/島‘s)とトラックメーカー/ダブエンジニアのHarikuyamakuを中心に、ダンスホール・リディム"Sleng Teng(スレンテン)”と沖縄民謡のチャンプルーを実現した「ウチナースレンテンプロジェクト」の第2弾。本作のテーマは、沖縄の旧盆に行われる伝統芸能「エイサー」。先祖崇拝を重んじる沖縄では、旧暦7月13日にご先祖を迎え、15日に送るまで、各地で青年会がエイサーの演舞を繰り広げる。今回の2曲は、そのエイサーの現場で定番曲として根付いているビッグ・チューンだ。「くーだーかー〜スンサーミー」(原題「久高万寿主節」)は、何かと話題の多い人物“久高万寿主(くだかまんじゅーしゅ)”のうわさ話を歌い、「クユイヌ ハナシヌ...Read more ウームッサー(=今宵の話のおもしろさ)」と盛り上げる楽曲。歌三線は、師匠・大城美佐子から薫陶を受けた民謡唄者、大城琢。リディムに合わせて独自の“間”を作り出した歌い回しは、実はレゲエ好きという感覚が冴え渡った絶妙な仕上がり。さらに宮古島からサックス奏者のMARINO、スティールパン奏者トンチが参加し、南国の風を感じさせるフレーズで楽曲の世界観を色彩豊かに拡張している。 “唐から船が来たぞー!”という掛け声で始まり、即興の歌詞で歌われることも多い「唐船(とうしん)ドーイ」は、祝いの席など沖縄の暮らしに欠かせないカチャーシーの代表格であり、エイサーではクライマックスで熱狂の渦を巻き起こす楽曲。Harikuyamakuと“ダブ×民謡”のタッグで海外からも注目されている唄者、YUKINO INAMINEがその熱気を艶やかな歌声と早弾きの三線で見事に表現。さらに島’sのSHINGOがエモーショナルなMCで畳み掛け、高揚感あふれるチューンに仕上げている。琉球民謡に潜在するうちなーんちゅ独自のリズム感覚とジャマイカ産80年代ダンスホール・リディムの共鳴が証明された重要作。入魂の琉球ダンスホール!
今作は2021年配信リリースされていた自身のDJ用に自身の楽曲のダブミックスした作品「島DUBPLATE for Tokyo 2021」を、今回のアナログ化にあたり、さらにフルートやトースティング、オーバーダブを重ねてリダブワイズさせた入魂ダブアルバム意欲作!!! 盟友MAKI TAFARIによるフルートソロをオーバーダブさせたA2「Ayahaberu」(sample2)、沖縄レゲエ史上最高の曲とも言われる石垣吉道の「Key Stone」をリディムを作りかえて新たにダブミックスしたA3「Pacific Dub」、初めてのレコーディングだったというAKAMNMIMANによるトースティングを新たにフィーチャーしたA4「Turubaimun」、スプリングリバーブを叩いたノイズやシンセをオーバ...Read more (コンピューマ)ーダブさせたB1「Kuduchi Behshi」(sample3)、盟友、稲嶺幸乃との共作である「四季口説」を新たにダブミックスしたB4「Dub Season」等々、唯一無二の先鋭的レフトフィールド実験精神にも富んだ、沖縄伝統音楽ダブワイズ8トラックを収録。 (コンピューマ)
スローモー・アシッド・テクノと三線がビルドアップする「白浜節」、ゆったりとしたエレクトロ・ダブ「てぃんさぐぬ花」(実は[Emotional] Especial〉リリースのレーベルサンプラー12インチ、「Comuni ó n Especial」収録の同曲のカヴァーは、稲嶺をフィーチャーする案もあったようだがスケジュールの問題で実現せず、今回ニューヴァージョンにて晴れて実現)、そしてオプティミックなバリアリック・サウンドと低速ステッパーが交差したような「月ぬ美しゃ」。「月ぬ美しゃ」はB面3曲目に二人のコラボレートのきっかけを作った、沖縄のダブ・マスター、HARIKUYAMAKUによるアーシーな正調ルーツ・ダブ・ヴァージョンも収録されている。なんでもBUN BUN THE MC主宰の〈RAGGA CHANNEL〉でのHARIKUYAMAKU & 稲嶺幸乃のライヴ時に、HARIKUYAMAKUから紹介を受けたことから、前述のリミックス、そして今作へと繋がっていったということだ。
This release is compiled from two albums originally recorded and produced by Hatsuo Okuhara between 1970 and 1973 and issued as "Songs of My Homeland: Ikema Folk Song Collection," newly remastered and reissued by Makoto Kubota.
Beyond its immense value as documentation of the (musical) culture of Ikema Island, what stands out most is the beauty of...Read more a living tradition rather than a preserved one, and the sheer force with which the sound itself bears down on the listener.
"The richness and brilliance of the content are almost unbelievable. The songs are wonderful, and the singing and the groove of each performance are absolutely first-rate. It's the biggest shock and thrill I've had since first encountering the Marufuku pressing of 'Hai-sai Ojisan' back in the '70s. The songs, playing and singing heard here—distinctive to Miyako, or rather to the Ikema people—were recorded roughly and lo-fi, but the sound and atmosphere that come through are even more astonishing for it." — Makoto Kubota
[Back in stock] Straight out of Okinawa — the debut album from Churashima (Beautiful Island) Navigator has arrived! Electric dance music, their foundation, fuses with Okinawan folk song, whisking you out of the everyday into another world and conveying the sheer joy of dancing. A really fine album. Highly recommended!
The long-awaited debut album from CHURASHIMA NAVIGATOR, a unit born out of sessions at the bass music party "budryukyu" between DJ SHINKICHI — a veteran of key Japanese underground units AOA and SOFT who relocated from Kansai to Okinawa — and DJ NU-DOH, an Okinawan kingpin who once moved to Tokyo and worked as part of AUDIO SUTRA. Ryukyuan folk sin...Read more (Original Japanese text by Saito)ger and sanshin player Kanako Horiuchi joins as a session member, with guest appearances from Daiho Soga of cinema dub monks and HARIKUYAMAKU of SHIMA-DUB. Okinawan folk song meets dub, bass music and electronic dance music in an ethnic dance sound brimming with vitality and fun, awakening the original sacredness of dancing. It also carries a rebel music edge. A wonderful album has been born — don't miss it! (Original Japanese text by Saito)
[Restocked] A remix album of "Life Is Trasure," the 2017 release from CHURASHIMA NAVIGATOR, who fuse the festive spirit and spirituality of Okinawan traditional folk song with electronic music like techno, dub and bass music, is out now!! Participating artists are as follows: IAN SIMMONDS / IORI / J.A.K.A.M. / GROUND / UTSUMI / YAMA a.k.a. Sahib / KURANAKA a.k.a. 1945 / BASED ON KYOTO / YO.AN / CITY1 / HELKTRAM / MAMABRAZIL / HARIKUYAMAKU / ENITOKWA.
The group was formed by DJ SINKICHI—who, after his work in AOA and SOFT, key units of Japan's underground scene, relocated from Kansai to Okinawa—and DJ NU-DOH, an Okinawan key figure who has DJ'd at Aoyama BLUE and was also a member of AUDIO SUTRA; Okinawan folk singer Kanako Horiuchi later joined as well.
Rooted in the present-day situatio...Read more (Original Japanese text by Saito)n of Okinawa with its ongoing military base issues, CHURASHIMA NAVIGATOR fuse the festive spirit and spirituality of Okinawan traditional folk song with electronic music such as techno, dub and bass music. Now comes a remix album of their 2017 release "Life Is Trasure," featuring artists from all over who have helped build the scene together. It's a release worth noting, resonating with the rising interest in South American folklore and music emerging from Asia. (Original Japanese text by Saito)
A hidden treasure of 1990s Okinawan exotica and electronic music. Ryukyu electronic salon music that evokes the mental imagery of a “peaceful Asia.” This is the first-ever LP release celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of the one-of-a-kind masterpiece Underwater Garden (1993). It comes with bonus tracks!!
Recommended by Peter Barakan and Makoto Kubota, he was selected as one of the “Best Bands of 1986” in a magazine. He was also a key member of the legendary Okinawan band “Rokunin-gumi”—a group that disbanded before their debut album, which was being produced by Bill Laswell’s label, could be released. He also contributed to Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Neo ...Read more (Original Japanese text by Saito)Geo,” which fused Ryukyuan music, rock, and electro. EM Records is reissuing Kojun’s 1993 CD-only album Underwater Garden! Opening with the sound of gamelan, this album features an imaginary soundscape that fuses the exotic sounds of Bali, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia with electronic music. It’s fantastic. (Original Japanese text by Saito)