Claim: Ryukyuan music, which can be traced back to Okinawa Island, can be categorized in four ways.
Evidence: The word "Ryūkyū" originally referred to Okinawa Island and has a strong association with the highly centralized Ryukyu Kingdom based on Okinawa Island and its high culture practiced by the samurai class in its capital Shuri. Musical traditions of the Southern Islands are so diversified that their connections are scarcely recognizable to unaccustomed eyes, but Hokama managed to organize them by cross-island group categories. The table above shows Hokama's classification presented in a volume of the Nihon min'yō taikan (1993). The table below is another classification by Hokama, which includes incantations and dramas. magical epic lyric drama category