Makoto Kubota & The Sunset Gang has been played on NTS in shows including Anu, featured first on 16 June 2021. Songs played include Hoshikuzu.

Two seminal figures for bringing Okinawan, Asian and other 'world' musics to a Japanese audience are Makoto Kubota and Haruomi Hosono. Kubota and his band (久保田麻琴と夕焼け楽団), featuring Hosono on drums and as co-producer recorded Shokichi Kina's classic 'Haisai Ojisan' in 1975. Arguably they created the first wave of interest in Okinawan music in Japan, Kina having a hit with his song two years later. Due to a now slightly dodgy original master tape, this version was remixed by Kubota in…