Gosh, how time flies as the 26th annual Okinawan Festival (Honolulu, Hawaii) begins this weekend. Like every year, we have special guest performers and this year we’ll have a chance to see Yaeyama singer-songwriter Mamoru Miyagi, newcomer Tatsuya Shimabukuro and a band called Tokonatsu Band that I took the time to track down today.
Tokonatsu Band is led by Yasu Nakatsune, who happens to be Tatsuya Shimabukuro’s sanshin teacher. Tatsuya, now 27, began taking sanshin lessons from Yasu 10 years ago and this year marked his solo debut with the album “Tunugi.” (Via ryuQ.)