Kuichaa ( Miyako:, クイチャー), also known as kuichaa-aagu is a genre of songs from the Miyako Islands, Okinawa Prefecture of southwestern Japan. They are performed by a group of young men and women and usually accompany dancing. Like other songs from the Miyako Islands, they have relatively free verse forms. Although Miyako culture is known for epic songs called aagu, kuichaa lean toward lyric songs. [1] [2]
Hokama Shuzen hypothesized that the etymology of kuichaa was kui (voice, Standard Japanese koe) and ʧaːsu̥ (to combine, Standard Japanese uchi-awasu). [1] As the etymology suggests, kuichaa is characterized by group singing. A group of young men and women forms a circle. The dance is a rhythmical and vigorous one, with arms shaking to and fro and left and right, legs stamping on the ground, dancing high and with hands clapping.
The themes of song vary. For example, a song titled mami ga pana features an ordinary Miyako woman who suffered from the poll tax under the Ryukyu Kingdom. [2]
The kuichaa commemorating the abolition of the poll tax.
Kuichaa ( Miyako:, クイチャー), also known as kuichaa-aagu is a genre of songs from the Miyako Islands, Okinawa Prefecture of southwestern Japan. They are performed by a group of young men and women and usually accompany dancing. Like other songs from the Miyako Islands, they have relatively free verse forms. Although Miyako culture is known for epic songs called aagu, kuichaa lean toward lyric songs. [1] [2]
Hokama Shuzen hypothesized that the etymology of kuichaa was kui (voice, Standard Japanese koe) and ʧaːsu̥ (to combine, Standard Japanese uchi-awasu). [1] As the etymology suggests, kuichaa is characterized by group singing. A group of young men and women forms a circle. The dance is a rhythmical and vigorous one, with arms shaking to and fro and left and right, legs stamping on the ground, dancing high and with hands clapping.
The themes of song vary. For example, a song titled mami ga pana features an ordinary Miyako woman who suffered from the poll tax under the Ryukyu Kingdom. [2]
The kuichaa commemorating the abolition of the poll tax.