Oki Ainu Dub Band
Oki Kano (加納 沖, Kanō Oki) was born in Hokkaido, to a Japanese mother and an Ainu father (renowned wood sculptor Bikki Sunazawa) and grew up in Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduating in crafts at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, he moved to New York in 1987, where he worked as special effects artist on film productions. He returned to Japan in 1992, and was presented with his first tonkori - the traditional stringed instrument of the Karafuto Ainu.
Oki uses the tonkori, an Ainu stringed instrument, in his performances and mixes traditional Ainu music with reggae, dub and other styles of world music. He also plays guitar and traditional Ainu percussion instruments.
Dive in to the band’s music.
First up is “Suma Mukar”:
Next is the title track from the Sakhalin Rock album Sakhalin Rock.
And here is a live performance
“Filmed at the FMM Sines Festival in 2007, this is a traditional Ainu bow and arrow dance performed by Futoshi Ikabe, to a deep dub mix by the band with Naoyuki Uchida at the desk.”