Sado Okesa

Japanese dancer
9" x 12"
oil on canvas, 2011

The image of the dancing Japanese woman was originally part of a photograph of a large dancing group used on the Folkways album Traditional Folk Songs of Japan. The background was painted en plein air at Bowditch beach in Fort Myers. The song for the Top 100 2011 it represents is Sado Okesa. Sado Okesa is a love song that originates from the island of Sado. The version on Traditional Folk Songs of Japan was actually recorded on that island but the Top 100 version of the song comes from Yokohama. It appears on Folk Music of Japan, yet another Folkways release. It was sung by a Geisha in 1952 and is an urbanized version quite different from the original (de Sado version on Traditional Folk Songs could be considered the original version but was recorded nine years later in 1961—the real original is of course hundreds of years older). 

The Sado version I downloaded from the Smithsonian website for 99 cent. The Yokahama version I found on the original vinyl LP Folk Music of Japan. It cost me also 99 cents in a thrift store in Cape Coral.