Oki

OKI (Oki Kano) is an Ainu-Japanese musician, sculptor and music producer, and the leading contemporary performer of the tonkori, the stringed instrument of the Sakhalin Ainu. He studied crafts at the Tokyo University of the Arts and worked in New York from 1987 to 1992 as a special effects artist on film productions, then taught himself to play and make the tonkori after returning to Japan. He leads the OKI Dub Ainu Band, which combines Ainu songs with reggae, dub and African rhythms and has toured internationally, including WOMAD festivals. As head of the label Chikar Studio he produces the vocal group Marewrew and produced the albums of the Ainu singer Umeko Ando.