Nomura-ryu

A monument dedicated to the founders of Nomura-ryû, erected in the Naminoue area of Naha.

• Japanese: 野村流 (Nomura-ryuu)

Nomura-ryû is the largest school or style (ryûha) of classical Okinawan uta-sanshin (song and sanshin) music.

Like most schools of traditional arts, Nomura-ryû places great importance on direct transmission of the tradition from teacher to student. However, Nomura-ryû adheres more strictly to written (printed) musical notation than the smaller, but still prominent, Afusô-ryû school of uta-sanshin, which uses no notation for the vocals. The classical Nomura-ryû repertoire, as set by the school, is contained in the four-volume publication Nomura-ryû kunkunshii, based closely on a compilation assembled by Nomura Anchô, the founder of the school, in 1869.

The current head of Nomura-ryû in Hawaii is Norman Kaneshiro. His late sensei and predecessor, Harry Seishô Nakasone (1912-2011), was named a Living Treasure of Hawaii in 1992, and the previous year received a National Endowments for the Arts Folk Heritage Fellowship, making him a Living National Treasure of the United States, the first Asian-American to receive that honor.

References

• Thompson, Robin. "The Music of Ryukyu." Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, 2008. p313.
• Thompson, Robin. "The Sanshin and its Place in Okinawan Music." Okinawa bijutsu zenshû 沖縄美術全集. vol. 5. p. vi.