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01. Umeko Ando - Chorakkun
02. Umeko Ando - Eri Rimse
03. Umeko Ando - Saranpe
04. Umeko Ando - Iuta Upopo
05. Umeko Ando - Suchochoy
06. Umeko Ando - Chup Kamuy Ho
07. Umeko Ando - Sarukiusinay Kotan
08. Umeko Ando - Utari Opun Parewa
09. Umeko Ando - Mukkuri Hawehe
10. Umeko Ando - Emusi Rimse
11. Umeko Ando - Ku Rimse
12. Umeko Ando - Herekan Ho
13. Umeko Ando - Rera Suye
14. Umeko Ando - Aruo
ARTIST
TITLE
Upopo Sanke
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
PING 081CD PING 081CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
2/16/2024

Upopo Sanke means "Let's sing a song" in the Ainu language. Umeko Ando (1932-2004) was one of the best-known artists of the Ainu, an indigenous, long-suppressed community in northern Japan. She sings their traditional songs together with Oki Kano on the Tonkori harp, who also recorded the album. The two are supported by members of the female vocal group Marewrew as well as Ainu percussionists, a string player and a male singer who provides rhythmic shouts and also throat singing. The call-and-response structure of many of the songs is performed with a mantric quality in a vocal style that is perhaps best described as elastic and breathing. There seems to be a gentle smile in every note and syllable. This music softly hits the heart. Upopo Sanke was recorded on a farm in Tokachi in the summer of 2003. You hear dogs barking, a distant thunderstorm and voices imitating animals. The liner notes that accompany the double-LP release gather the anecdotal memories of Umeko Ando and Oki Kano about the stories of the 14 songs. Oki Kano is a musical ambassador of the Ainu culture who tours worldwide with his Oki Dub Ainu Band and also gives solo concerts, always playing the Tonkori, the five-stringed Ainu harp. The Ainu have suffered from the oppression of their culture and language by Japan, especially since the 18th and 19th centuries. Only recently, in 2008, were the Ainu officially recognized again as an indigenous people culturally independent of Japan. As a result of the marginalization, there are now only a few hundred native speakers of the Ainu language left, making it a particularly worthy object of preservation.