Masaya Yamauchi

Uta-Sanshin

Masaya Yamauchi, born in Okinawa, graduated from Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, where he also completed his graduate studies. He began studying the sanshin in the fifth grade of elementary school under Eiji Shimabukuro, a master of Ryukyu classical music.

Uta-sanshin is an Okinawan tradition in which singing and playing the three-stringed sanshin form an inseparable whole. Rooted in the musical traditions of the former Ryukyu Kingdom, it is closely associated with the classical music of Okinawa.

Yamauchi is a holder of the National Important Intangible Cultural Property designation for Ryukyu Dance (Uta-Sanshin) and the Okinawa Prefecture Designated Intangible Cultural Property designation for the Traditional Music of Tansui. He is also a certified instructor of the Tansui School of the Ryukyu Classical Music Society for Preservation and the Nomura School of the Ryukyu Classical Music Association.

He is currently a professor at Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts and Representative Director of the General Incorporated Association Ryukyu Traditional Performing Arts Design Laboratory.