Kokuba Koken

  • Japanese: 国場 公憲 (Kokuba Kouken)

Kokuba Kôken was an Okinawan musician skilled in the uzagaku music of the Ryukyuan royal court.

Kokuba was a member of Kumemura aristocratic lineages. In 1913, he was interviewed by musicologist Yamauchi Seihin, instructing Yamauchi in some of the musical pieces played in the royal court, and enabling Yamauchi to transcribe these into modern/Western musical notation. Yamauchi's written records of these songs are the only records known to be extant indicating not just the lyrics but the actual melodies of uzagaku court music.

References

  • Kina Moriaki and Okazaki Ikuko, Okinawa to Chûgoku geinô, Naha: Hirugi-sha (1984), 52.