Rinken Band

Rinken Band is an Okinawan folk band that helped popularized their homeland's musical forms starting in 1985, when their first hit, "Arigato", was released.

Rinken Band fuses min'yo, pop and celebratory ei-sa traditions to make ballads and dance tunes. Members include Tomoko Uehara (vocals, drums, sanbas, sanshin), Yosimi Kuawe (vocals, drums), Katsunori Inafuku (vocals, drums), Toyoharu Ookawa (vocals, drums), Kazunari Uechi (drums, sanshin), Akira Uehara (bass guitar), Kiyohito Yamakawa (keyboards and frontman Teruya Rinken (sanshin).