Unaigumi

Unaigumi brought the unique island flavor of their home Okinawa to the Cafe de Paris on Sunday afternoon. Beautiful soaring voices and the gentle strums of shamisen emanated from the shady tent out into the summer heat. Inside, they beckoned the audience closer, many people taking seats on the floor as the four women serenaded them with traditional Okinawan folk songs and flowing celebratory rhythms.

“I’m from Okinawa. This is my first ever visit to a ski resort”, one member joked. Unaigumi, meaning “sisters” in traditional Okinawan dialect, have shared the music that has been handed down to them with people around the world and throughout Japan. Under the colorful tent of Cafe de Paris, they had audience members smiling and singing along to some familiar folk songs of their native island.