YOKOSUKA, Japan >> Hawaiian ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro was to perform a song dedicated to the nine Japanese missing in the sinking of the Ehime Maru at a concert today in Zushi, Kanagawa prefecture, organizers said. Isle ukulele player to
perform ‘Ehime Maru’
song in JapanKyodo News Service
Shimabukuro, a 24-year-old fourth-generation Japanese American, was to sing "Ehime Maru," a song named after the Japanese fisheries training ship that went down in February off Hawaii after being hit by a U.S. Navy submarine.
He was to play in front of about 150 people from local schools, hospitals and old-age homes, they said.
Shimabukuro is currently on a six-day visit to Japan through Tuesday. In Japan, he will also perform with his band Colón, which won a Na Hoku Hanohano Award this year for Favorite Entertainer of the Year.
"Ehime Maru" starts off softly like the beginning of a quiet voyage, followed by a crescendo to an intense middle section symbolizing the collision and ensuing confusion. The final section is subdued to depict the tragic fate of the ship.
An "Ehime Maru" CD has been sold in Hawaii and Japan. Proceeds will go to the victims' families.
The 499-ton Ehime Maru was struck and sunk by the 6,080-ton Greeneville Feb. 9 while the sub was conducting an emergency surfacing maneuver for civilian visitors.
Nine of the 35 people aboard the ship, including four students from Uwajima Fisheries High School in Ehime prefecture, western Japan, are missing and presumed dead. The Navy believes that only five to seven of the missing remain inside the ship.