Okinawa City Music Museum Ongaku Mura

This museum holds materials related to Okinawan music, including folk songs, jazz, rock, and folk music, which developed uniquely in Okinawa. It is located on Ichiban-gai, a shopping street located on the inner side of Koza Gate Street.

The museum displays recordings, pamphlets of music events, and photographs that are now hard to find, and there are a whopping 3,000 sound recordings available for viewing. It is said that Okinawan music evolved by incorporating its own musical scale, language, and historical background.

In addition, demand for jazz bands grew in postwar Okinawa City, which was crowded with American customers, and later rock music became popular, and during the Vietnam War era, many rock bands appeared that played to American audiences. In order to survive the turbulent postwar period, Koza embraced American culture while at the same time carefully preserving its unique Okinawan culture.

The museum opened in 2014 with the goal of using valuable cultural resources to enhance the community. It preserves materials on Okinawan music not only from Okinawa City but from all of Okinawa Prefecture, and visitors can search and browse the materials with a tablet terminal. Visitors can also listen to commentary on the history of Okinawan music from the Ongaku-mura staff.