Volume 57, Number 5    September 14, 2009         

Professor making music
A Sept. 8 article in the Nichi Bei Times featured Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies Wesley Ueunten, who is a leading Okinawan musician. Ueunten began playing more than three decades ago, and since then, Okinawan music has seen a surge in popularity in Japan and in Nikkei communities. Ueunten plays the sanshin, and discussed his love of Okinawan music in the article. "A lot of the promotion of Okinawan song and dance today is about selling something exotic,” he says. “But you can’t really feel and experience the true meaning of Okinawan music without some sort of political consciousness."

1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132 415/338-1111
Last modified Sept. 14, 2009 by University Communications.