the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
| 31 Jan 2025
Place-based science from Okinawa: 18th-century climate and geology recorded in Ryukyuan classical music
Abstract. Indigenous knowledge can record scientific observations of specific “places” that may be difficult to preserve in the geologic record. Such place in place-based science highlights issues local to a learner for engaging audiences with the scientific problems relevant to their communities. Here, we focus on a repertoire of indigenous Ryukyuan classical music to examine place-based observations of 18th-century climate and geology in the Ryukyu Islands (21st-century Okinawa Prefecture, Japan). Comparing environmental conditions recorded in songs with 20th–21st-century studies, we find that surface winds, ocean currents, typhoons, and volcanism from lyrics parallel their respective observations in the scientific record. This novel perspective of art and science highlights the relevancy of Ryukyuan classical music in teaching contemporary issues such as climate change and natural hazards. Thus, Ryukyuan indigenous knowledge can play an innovative role in science engagement for 21st-century Okinawans in Okinawa Prefecture and their diasporic kinsfolk worldwide.
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RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-139', Anonymous Referee #1, 26 Mar 2025
An intriguing paper that describes how Ryukyuan classical music could play an important role in engaging Okinawans and those in the Okinawan diaspora in the geosciences and science education. I enjoyed listening to the examples of Nubui Kuduchi and Kudai Kuduchi; this is definitely a strength of this paper.
While this paper has the potential to contribute to scientific progress within the scope of Geoscience Communication, it fails to do so due to its lack of claim for significance (so what?) that is solidly grounded in the scholarly literature.
From what is presented, the paper has the potential to contribute to (a) the literature on Indigenous Knowledge and how traditional music can help scientists better understand historical as well as more recent climatic and geological processes; and (b) the literature on how traditional music, especially those of marginalised communities, could be used to improve engagement of these communities with science, and empower them. Unfortunately, the authors fail situate the article well within the scholarly literature. In fact, the literature review in the Introduction section is too superficial for the reader to get a good understanding of the literature. As for (a), it is unclear what the literature (i.e., the works cited in lines 21-24 of page 1) discusses on how traditional music can help scientists better understand historical as well as more recent climatic and geological processes. As for (b), four articles are cited as highlighting “previous works highlight how incorporating indigenous stewardship in Earth science courses can increase engagement by emphasizing the local, land-human interactions to which a learner has an ancestral connection” but we have no idea what these previous works have said on this topic. Thus, it is unclear to the reader how this paper contributes to the literature on (a) and (b).
Similarly, it is unclear from the brief mentions of the literature at the end of p.2 to the first paragraph on p.3, what has been written so far (if any) on the topic of Ryukyuan classical music and climatic/geological processes. Is this paper filling a gap in any literature? If so, what exactly are the gaps?
The methods is another section where scientific rigour could be improved; the methods are not described comprehensively. In particular, it would be good for the reader to know (1) what are the other versions/schools of Nubui Kuduchi and Kudai Kuduchi exist, why the version used for analysis in the paper was used (is it the “mainstream” version? Why was it not compared with other versions/schools?); (2) a description of the Okinawan diaspora in general, and the diaspora in Hawai’i, and what kind of differences would the reader need to be aware of, in terms of the Okinawans in Okinawa vs. the diaspora elsewhere (also related to (1) above, are there differences in Nubui Kuduchi and Kudai Kuduchi sung by Okinawans in Okinawa and those transmitted within the diasporas?); (3) more details on methodology used to “link” observations of climatic, geological, and environmental processes, as the authors refer to Swanson’s work. This may help the reader understand better how photos and images (Figures 2, 4) were used in the analysis. What is written in sections 4.2-4.3 show that the lyrics and historical records concur; how was this information analysed to lead to the discussion in section 5.1?
Sections 5.2 and 5.3 appear to be literature review sections, much of which could be brought to the Introduction section to show us the gaps (or, what this paper builds on) in the literature. Once again, the authors would need to include more details so the reader can get a better understanding of the literature on the topic.
I also recommend that the authors state the argument of the article clearly in the introduction. Currently, the first time the argument appears (after the abstract) is at the end of the methods section. It would be helpful for the reader to see this earlier.
Once again, the fact that the authors have experiences and expertise as Ryukyu classical musicians makes this paper particularly appealing. Once the scientific rigour is strengthened, the paper could make an important contribution to scientific progress within the scope of Geoscience Communication.Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-139-RC1 - AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Justin Higa, 07 May 2025
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RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-139', Anonymous Referee #2, 13 May 2025
The work is very interesting and includes meteorological and geological descriptions found in classical music pieces: Nubui Kuduchi and Kudai Kuduchi, two Ryūkyū koten songs composed during the rule of the Satsuma Domain over the Ryukyu Kingdom.
These songs provide valuable information for extracting historical climate data from Ryūkyū koten lyrics, which can be used to connect cultural arts with science and education in the western Pacific region.
The voyages described to the north of Okinawa Island, where numerous active volcanoes are located, offered a rare opportunity to document volcanism in Ryukyuan songs.The use of artistic sources to obtain scientific information is an extremely rich field that deserves further exploration across many artistic disciplines.
The article adopts a multidisciplinary approach, highlighting aspects of historical, cultural, environmental, climatic, and geological interest.
I believe this is the right approach to enhance sources that deserve attention, also for educational purposes.
The introduction and the research objectives are clear; however, the geographical distinction between the Kyushu Islands and Okinawa is not clear, either in the text or in Figure 1.
Figure 2: Please add the meaning of the red dashed line in the caption.
Each figure should be placed immediately after it is first mentioned in the text.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-139-RC2 -
AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Justin Higa, 15 May 2025
Dear Reviewer 2,
Thank you very much for your comments on our work and support for artistic sources in science. Please see below your comments in roman type and our responses in italics and/or bulleted. We will provide our textual changes once we reach that stage of the review process.
The work is very interesting and includes meteorological and geological descriptions found in classical music pieces: Nubui Kuduchi and Kudai Kuduchi, two Ryūkyū koten songs composed during the rule of the Satsuma Domain over the Ryukyu Kingdom.
- We greatly appreciate your positive assessment and interest in our work on Ryūkyū koten.
These songs provide valuable information for extracting historical climate data from Ryūkyū koten lyrics, which can be used to connect cultural arts with science and education in the western Pacific region.
The voyages described to the north of Okinawa Island, where numerous active volcanoes are located, offered a rare opportunity to document volcanism in Ryukyuan songs.
The use of artistic sources to obtain scientific information is an extremely rich field that deserves further exploration across many artistic disciplines.
The article adopts a multidisciplinary approach, highlighting aspects of historical, cultural, environmental, climatic, and geological interest.
I believe this is the right approach to enhance sources that deserve attention, also for educational purposes.
- Thank you for this very encouraging comment and accurate summary of our work.
The introduction and the research objectives are clear; however, the geographical distinction between the Kyushu Islands and Okinawa is not clear, either in the text or in Figure 1.
- We appreciate this suggestion and can add a boundary between the Ryukyu island arc groups and Kyushu in Figure 1. We can draw a dashed line off the southern coast of Kyushu and label Kyushu as “Kyushu Island," similar to the other island groups for consistency. We can also edit the first sentence of the caption as “Figure 1: The Ryukyu Islands and southern Kyushu…” for geographical accuracy.
We hope this makes the first in-text description of the Ryukyu Islands’ extent and first citation of “Fig. 1” clearer regarding the distinction of Kyushu versus other island groups.
Figure 2: Please add the meaning of the red dashed line in the caption.
- Thank you for this comment. We will add a legend for red dashed shapes as “Caldera or topographic depression” on Figure 2a (currently reordered as Figure 4a), following the journal guidelines that suggest against in-caption descriptions of figure items.
Each figure should be placed immediately after it is first mentioned in the text.
- We will rearrange the figures closer to their first mention in our revised text, as described in the journal guidelines.
Thank you again for your positive review of our manuscript. We are grateful for your enthusiasm regarding our work.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-139-AC2
-
AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Justin Higa, 15 May 2025
Status: closed
-
RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-139', Anonymous Referee #1, 26 Mar 2025
An intriguing paper that describes how Ryukyuan classical music could play an important role in engaging Okinawans and those in the Okinawan diaspora in the geosciences and science education. I enjoyed listening to the examples of Nubui Kuduchi and Kudai Kuduchi; this is definitely a strength of this paper.
While this paper has the potential to contribute to scientific progress within the scope of Geoscience Communication, it fails to do so due to its lack of claim for significance (so what?) that is solidly grounded in the scholarly literature.
From what is presented, the paper has the potential to contribute to (a) the literature on Indigenous Knowledge and how traditional music can help scientists better understand historical as well as more recent climatic and geological processes; and (b) the literature on how traditional music, especially those of marginalised communities, could be used to improve engagement of these communities with science, and empower them. Unfortunately, the authors fail situate the article well within the scholarly literature. In fact, the literature review in the Introduction section is too superficial for the reader to get a good understanding of the literature. As for (a), it is unclear what the literature (i.e., the works cited in lines 21-24 of page 1) discusses on how traditional music can help scientists better understand historical as well as more recent climatic and geological processes. As for (b), four articles are cited as highlighting “previous works highlight how incorporating indigenous stewardship in Earth science courses can increase engagement by emphasizing the local, land-human interactions to which a learner has an ancestral connection” but we have no idea what these previous works have said on this topic. Thus, it is unclear to the reader how this paper contributes to the literature on (a) and (b).
Similarly, it is unclear from the brief mentions of the literature at the end of p.2 to the first paragraph on p.3, what has been written so far (if any) on the topic of Ryukyuan classical music and climatic/geological processes. Is this paper filling a gap in any literature? If so, what exactly are the gaps?
The methods is another section where scientific rigour could be improved; the methods are not described comprehensively. In particular, it would be good for the reader to know (1) what are the other versions/schools of Nubui Kuduchi and Kudai Kuduchi exist, why the version used for analysis in the paper was used (is it the “mainstream” version? Why was it not compared with other versions/schools?); (2) a description of the Okinawan diaspora in general, and the diaspora in Hawai’i, and what kind of differences would the reader need to be aware of, in terms of the Okinawans in Okinawa vs. the diaspora elsewhere (also related to (1) above, are there differences in Nubui Kuduchi and Kudai Kuduchi sung by Okinawans in Okinawa and those transmitted within the diasporas?); (3) more details on methodology used to “link” observations of climatic, geological, and environmental processes, as the authors refer to Swanson’s work. This may help the reader understand better how photos and images (Figures 2, 4) were used in the analysis. What is written in sections 4.2-4.3 show that the lyrics and historical records concur; how was this information analysed to lead to the discussion in section 5.1?
Sections 5.2 and 5.3 appear to be literature review sections, much of which could be brought to the Introduction section to show us the gaps (or, what this paper builds on) in the literature. Once again, the authors would need to include more details so the reader can get a better understanding of the literature on the topic.
I also recommend that the authors state the argument of the article clearly in the introduction. Currently, the first time the argument appears (after the abstract) is at the end of the methods section. It would be helpful for the reader to see this earlier.
Once again, the fact that the authors have experiences and expertise as Ryukyu classical musicians makes this paper particularly appealing. Once the scientific rigour is strengthened, the paper could make an important contribution to scientific progress within the scope of Geoscience Communication.Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-139-RC1 - AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Justin Higa, 07 May 2025
-
RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-139', Anonymous Referee #2, 13 May 2025
The work is very interesting and includes meteorological and geological descriptions found in classical music pieces: Nubui Kuduchi and Kudai Kuduchi, two Ryūkyū koten songs composed during the rule of the Satsuma Domain over the Ryukyu Kingdom.
These songs provide valuable information for extracting historical climate data from Ryūkyū koten lyrics, which can be used to connect cultural arts with science and education in the western Pacific region.
The voyages described to the north of Okinawa Island, where numerous active volcanoes are located, offered a rare opportunity to document volcanism in Ryukyuan songs.The use of artistic sources to obtain scientific information is an extremely rich field that deserves further exploration across many artistic disciplines.
The article adopts a multidisciplinary approach, highlighting aspects of historical, cultural, environmental, climatic, and geological interest.
I believe this is the right approach to enhance sources that deserve attention, also for educational purposes.
The introduction and the research objectives are clear; however, the geographical distinction between the Kyushu Islands and Okinawa is not clear, either in the text or in Figure 1.
Figure 2: Please add the meaning of the red dashed line in the caption.
Each figure should be placed immediately after it is first mentioned in the text.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-139-RC2 -
AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Justin Higa, 15 May 2025
Dear Reviewer 2,
Thank you very much for your comments on our work and support for artistic sources in science. Please see below your comments in roman type and our responses in italics and/or bulleted. We will provide our textual changes once we reach that stage of the review process.
The work is very interesting and includes meteorological and geological descriptions found in classical music pieces: Nubui Kuduchi and Kudai Kuduchi, two Ryūkyū koten songs composed during the rule of the Satsuma Domain over the Ryukyu Kingdom.
- We greatly appreciate your positive assessment and interest in our work on Ryūkyū koten.
These songs provide valuable information for extracting historical climate data from Ryūkyū koten lyrics, which can be used to connect cultural arts with science and education in the western Pacific region.
The voyages described to the north of Okinawa Island, where numerous active volcanoes are located, offered a rare opportunity to document volcanism in Ryukyuan songs.
The use of artistic sources to obtain scientific information is an extremely rich field that deserves further exploration across many artistic disciplines.
The article adopts a multidisciplinary approach, highlighting aspects of historical, cultural, environmental, climatic, and geological interest.
I believe this is the right approach to enhance sources that deserve attention, also for educational purposes.
- Thank you for this very encouraging comment and accurate summary of our work.
The introduction and the research objectives are clear; however, the geographical distinction between the Kyushu Islands and Okinawa is not clear, either in the text or in Figure 1.
- We appreciate this suggestion and can add a boundary between the Ryukyu island arc groups and Kyushu in Figure 1. We can draw a dashed line off the southern coast of Kyushu and label Kyushu as “Kyushu Island," similar to the other island groups for consistency. We can also edit the first sentence of the caption as “Figure 1: The Ryukyu Islands and southern Kyushu…” for geographical accuracy.
We hope this makes the first in-text description of the Ryukyu Islands’ extent and first citation of “Fig. 1” clearer regarding the distinction of Kyushu versus other island groups.
Figure 2: Please add the meaning of the red dashed line in the caption.
- Thank you for this comment. We will add a legend for red dashed shapes as “Caldera or topographic depression” on Figure 2a (currently reordered as Figure 4a), following the journal guidelines that suggest against in-caption descriptions of figure items.
Each figure should be placed immediately after it is first mentioned in the text.
- We will rearrange the figures closer to their first mention in our revised text, as described in the journal guidelines.
Thank you again for your positive review of our manuscript. We are grateful for your enthusiasm regarding our work.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-139-AC2
-
AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Justin Higa, 15 May 2025
Video supplement
Nubui Kuduchi: 18th-century climate and geology recorded in Ryukyuan classical music J. T. Higa, J. Y. Uyeunten, and K. A. Odo https://doi.org/10.5446/69665
Kudai Kuduchi: 18th-century climate and geology recorded in Ryukyuan classical music J. T. Higa, J. Y. Uyeunten, and K. A. Odo https://doi.org/10.5446/69666
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