Today, only a few dozen from the early 20th century survive. Most of these were collected by Harry Urata in the mid-20th century. Allison Arakawa was one of Urata’s students, and she learned these songs as a teenager.

asianamericanmusic.org/learning/25s...

Most "hole hole bushi" used folk melodies from the workers’ home regions, and have new lyrics that reflected new realities in Hawai`i. It is likely that first-generation Japanese immigrants (the “Issei”) created thousands and thousands of these songs—many of them improvised while they worked.

"Hole hole bushi” is a collection of songs created primarily by Japanese women who worked on sugarcane plantations in Hawai`i in the early 20th century. In their original context, these work songs were often sung by women while they removed dead leaves from sugarcane.

Goodbye