Ikue Asazaki, born 11 November 1935 in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese folk singer whose career began under the influence of her father and the traditional shimaâuta music of her home region. An early milestone in Asazaki's career came in 1959, when she contributed traditional island songs to the soundtrack of the film The Sea of Erabu. She founded the Amami Island Song Asazaki Association in 1982 to help preserve and promote Amami's musical heritage. Two years later, she held her first solo concert, Ikue Asazaki Sings Amami, at the National Theatre, beginning an annual concert series that continued for the next decade with collaborators including Tetsuya Ikeda. Throughout her career, Ikue Asazaki has performed internationally, including concerts at Carnegie Hall in 1990, and has been a regular participant at the Ryukyu Festival in Hibiya, cementing her status as a prominent figure in Japanese folk music. Her discography includes albums like Utaba Utayun (2002) and Utaashiibi (2003), both through Universal Music.
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