Yaisama - ando umeko

Umeko Ando (安東 ウメ子 Andō Umeko?), (b. November 20, 1932, d. July 15, 2004) was an Ainu singer and mukkuri player. She lived in Makubetsu-cho, Nakagawa-gun, Hokkaido.

Hearing her mother's mukkuri, ihunke and uepeker, she developed her skills and came to be called "the master player of mukkuri." Even after marriage, she still continued to respect the Ainu traditions and daily customs, and has made much effort to promote and let Ainu culture prevail by transmitting and preserving the Ainu language, traditional dancing and manners. In 2000, she was awarded the 4th Ainu Cultural Award/Ainu Cultural Promotion Award.

In addition to recording several albums, often with Oki Kano, she is featured posthumously on the Samurai Champloo soundtrack with her song "Pekambe Uk" (ペカンベ ウㇰ?, "Wheat Harvesting Song"). The episode that featured this song was dedicated in her memory. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.