He, along with his band Champloose, played a large role in the Okinawan home-grown "folk rock" scene in the 1970s and 1980s.
Singer and lead songwriter Shoukichi Kina's electric sanshin was a particularly distinctive part of their sound.
First major single was the classic "Haisai Ojisan" (Hey, old man), written while Kina was still in high school but not a hit until a few years later, in 1972.
[4] He also created The White Ship of Peace Project,[5] to “bring to the USA a message of peace for the future,” to counter to what he called the "black ships" that came to Japan after Matthew C. Perry opened Japan's doors to trade with the west.
He also coined the slogan, “Lay down your weapons, take up musical instruments,” which he used during a trip to the United States for the project where he presented a sanshin to the UN secretary general.