The song “Itokuri Bushi” is believed to first have been sung by spinners in Naze, Amami Ōshima during the Edo Period when the Amami archipelago was under the governance of the Satsuma (Kagoshima) Domain. Today it is one of the more famous songs among the shima uta genre. It should be noted that strictly speaking shima uta (島唄) refers to the music of the Amami archipelago and not that of Okinawa. The hit song Shima Uta by the Japanese rock band THE BOOM has caused most mainland Japanese to be confused about this. The music of Okinawa is referred to as Okinawa Minyō (沖縄民謡).

In the Amami dialect shima (島) has a narrower meaning than “island” and refers to one’s hometown or kyōri (郷里).

The above version of Itokuri Bushi is performed by Nakamura Mizuki (中村瑞希) and Yoshihara Marika (吉原まりか). The two have put out a number of CDs which you can purchase here on on iTunes. I once had the chance to hear Nakamura perform live and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. The same thing happened when I first encountered shima uta performed by Tsuboyama Yutaka about 25 years ago.†

1

心配(しわ)じゃ心配(しわ)じゃ 糸(いとぅ)繰(く)りゃ心配(しわ)じゃ

（囃子）スラーヨーイヨーイ

糸(いとぅ)ぬ切(き)りりば スラヤーヌヤー 結(むす)びなゆむぃ

トコヤヌ スラヤーヌ バイドゥガ ジュイジュイ

Shiwa ja shiwaja itukurya shiwaja

Surāyōiyōi

Itunukiririba, surayānuyā musubinayumui

Tokoyanu surayānu baiduga juijui

大意：糸繰りは糸が切れないか、とても気を使いながらやります。でも、糸が切れたら結び直すことはできます。
General meaning: I take great care not to break the thread that I spin. But even if the thread breaks, I can tie it back together.

2

糸(いとぅ)や切(き)りりば 結(むす)びむなゆり

（囃子）スラーヨーイヨーイ

縁(えん)ぬ切(き)りりば スラヤーヌヤー 結(むす)ばれぃゆむぃ

トコヤヌ スラヤーヌ バイドゥガ ジュイジュイ

Itaya kiririba,musubimunayuri

Surāyōiyōi

Ennukiririba, surayānuyā musubareiyumui

Tokoyanu surayānu baiduga juijui

大意：糸は切れたら結びなおすことができますが、人の縁が切れたら 結びなおすことはできません。
General meaning: If the thread breaks, it can be tied back together, but if the bond between people is broken, it cannot be mended.

3

糸繰(いとぅく)り 一番(いちばん)な実定(さねぃさだ)やくむぃ

（囃子）スラーヨーイヨーイ

二番(にばん)なりゅん人(ちゅ)や スラヤーヌヤー

千代(ちよ)あせぐゎ

トコヤヌ スラヤーヌ バイドゥガ ジュイジュイ

Itaya kiriri ichiban-na saneisada yakumui

Surāyōiyōi

Niban na ryunchu-ya surayānuyā

Chiyo asegwa

Tokoyanu surayānu baiduga juijui

大意：糸繰の一番上手な人は、｢実定」兄さんです。 2番目に上手な人は、「千代」姉さんですね。
General meaning: The best at spinning is Saneisada. The second best is Chiyo.

4

糸(いとぅ)や繰(く)らさば 上糸(じょういと)繰(く)らせ

（囃子）スラーヨーイヨーイ

そげんなぶっかまんぬ スラヤーヌヤー

繰(く)りなーゆむぃ

トコヤヌ スラヤーヌ バイドゥガ ジュイジュイ

Itaya kurasaba jõitokkurase

Surāyōiyōi

Sogen-na bukkaman nu surayānuyā

Tokoyanu surayānu baiduga juijui

大意：糸繰をするならば、いい糸を紡いでください。そのような質の悪い繭からは、いい糸は紡げませんよ。
General meaning: If you are going to spin thread, spin with good thread. With that kind of poor quality silk, you can’t make good thread.

This is another version performed by Hirata Marina:

† One of the more well known regionalisms of Kagoshima is "daiyamé", a contraction of dareyame which is loosely translated into banshaku (晩酌, having a drink with dinner). Daiyame means 晩酌して疲れを癒す or to recover from one's fatigue by drinking. In the link to Tsuboyama Yutaka above, the Amami Ōshima musician sings the shima uta だれあむぃぐぁ (Daré Amuigwa), which is how they say "daiyamé" in some parts of Amami.