is a 1992 song by the Japanese band The Boom. It was written by the lead singer, Kazufumi Miyazawa, based on his impressions from visiting Okinawa for a photo shoot. It is the band's best selling song, well known throughout Japan and Argentina, and one of the most widely known songs associated with Okinawa although the band members are all from Yamanashi Prefecture. The song uses a mix of modern pop and rock styles as well as min'yō. Okinawan musical instruments and Okinawan vocabulary have been incorporated into the song. The song itself was used in an advertising campaign for the Xi brand awamori. Origin In a 2003 interview for fRoots, Miyazawa explained that he got the idea for the song after speaking with Okinawan survivors of the US invasion of Okinawa during World War II. In another interview, Miyazawa explained that most Okinawan casualties were not caused by American troops, but by Japan's instructions to commit suicide rather than surrender. While the song does not specify who the people being separated are, Miyazawa stated in the 2002 interview, "It is about the separation of a man and a woman, a separation that they couldn't control, and didn't want." Okinawan influence In fact, the term shima-uta originally refers to traditional folk songs of the Amami Islands. It is not a native term of Okinawa but was introduced from Amami in the 1970s. Uehara Naohiko, Okinawa's influential radio personality and songwriter, borrowed the term from Amami and give a new meaning to the term. He used his radio programs and musical events to popularize the name of shima-uta in Okinawa. Miyazawa first heard Okinawan-influenced music from Haruomi Hosono in the 1970s. Later, he asked friends to bring him tapes from the island, as Okinawan music was not readily available in Japan. Miyazawa said in the 2003 interview, Miyazawa plays the sanshin, the Okinawan precursor to the shamisen, when singing "Shima Uta" in concert. Release history There were initially two versions of "Shima Uta" released by The Boom. The first release is the which is sung partly in Japanese and partly in Okinawan (uchinaaguchi), and was released as a single on December 12, 1992. The followed on June 21, 1993, and is sung entirely in Japanese, although some words from Okinawan remain (such as ウージ uuji, which means sugarcane ). These versions of the song were performed at the 44th annual Kōhaku