Higa Etsuko

• Born: 1948
• Japanese: 比嘉 悦子 (Higa Etsuko)

Higa Etsuko is a researcher and performer of traditional Okinawan music, in particular uzagaku, the genre of formal ritual music of the Ryûkyû Kingdom royal court. A part-time lecturer at the Okinawa Prefectural University of the Arts, she is a founding member and head of the Uzagaku fukugen ensô kenkyûkai ("Uzagaku Restoration and Performance Research Association").

Born in Motobu-chô in northern Okinawa in 1948, Higa graduated from Naha High School (Naha kôkô) and then won a Government Aid and Relief in Occupied Areas (GARIOA) scholarship from the US government which she used to attend the University of Hawai'i. She earned both a BA and MA there, before returning to Okinawa in 1977, where she took up teaching positions at various universities.

Higa became director of the Okinawa Convention Center in 1996, founded the Uzagaku Research Association in 1997, and then became head of the Urasoe Tedako Hall, a public hall and performance venue, in 2007. In addition to leading the Uzagaku Association, which performs regularly for special events at Shuri castle and elsewhere, Higa has published a number of essays on Okinawan music.

Selected Publications

• "Ryûkyû ôfu ni okeru Chûgokukei no ongaku to uzagaku no onkyoku" 琉球王府における中国系の音楽と御座楽の音曲, Geinô 35 (1993), 17-23.
• "Tsuwano kyûhanke no Ryûkyû gakki ni tsuite" 津和野旧藩家の琉球楽器について, Okinawa kenritsu hakubutsukan kiyô 20 (1994), 129-139.
• (ed.) Uzagaku no fukugen ni mukete: chôsa to kenkyû 御座楽の復元に向けて: 調査と研究. Naha: Uzagaku fukugen ensô kenkyûkai (2007).
• Maboroshi no Ryukyu Ofu Kyuteigaku Uzagaku 幻の琉球王府宮廷楽御座楽 (The Vanished Tradition Of Ryukyuan Court Music Uzagaku), CD, Victor Entertainment, 2008.

References

• Higa Etsuko, "Minzoku ongaku to no deai" 民族音楽との出会い, Fee nu kaji 6 (2008/1-3), 6-7.