Okinawa musical superstar Kina Shoukichi will represent Asia at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Atlanta. His message of natural highs infused with the folk traditions of every Asian culture has turned him into Asia's Bob Marley. PNS correspondent Carol Hui, a freelance writer based in Tokyo, reports from Okinawa.

NAHA, OKINAWA -- To most Americans, Okinawa is best known as a flashpoint for anti-U.S. military sentiment in Asia. But that image could change this summer when Okinawa's most popular musician, Kina Shoukichi, performs at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games.

A shaman with shaggy hair and graying beard, Kina at 47 has become Asia's version of Bob Marley. Plucking reggae rhythms from a traditional Okinawan guitar or sanshin, his music ranges from down-home folksy ballads to high-energy rock. His best known hit, Hana (Flower) has been translated into Mongolian, Indonesian, Thai and Mandarin. "The Thais think it's a Thai song, the Chinese think it's Chinese," says his manager Paul F. Newman. In 1993 Taiwanese singer Emily Chu turned Hana into a hit in Taiwan and Hong Kong under the title Hua-shin.

In fact, Kina's music also evokes folk traditions from every Asian culture, as befits this southern island chain first settled by immigrants from Taiwan, China, southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Originally known as the Ryukyu Kingdom, the islands were renamed Okinawa by the Japanese who took them over in 1879.

Kina has no intention of squabbling over royalty rights. "Let my music bloom freely in Asia. Copyrights are a Western creation, unnatural to Asian cultures. I'm just happy everyone can share my music," he says. Champloose -- the word used for a new creation in Okinawan cooking that draws on various cuisines, is also the name of Kina's band.

In a region where war scars have barely healed and military tension still runs high, Kina's message of natural highs -- music, spirituality and peace -- is a popular one. Okinawa was the site of the most bloody battle in the Pacific War, resulting in over 200,000 deaths -- most of them native Okinawans. Now 75 percent of the island land is given over to U.S. military bases. Kina's family land was turned into U.S.-base land at gun point -- his father had fought in the war and was taken away as a POW to Hawaii in 1945. Two years later he returned to become a popular folk singer who raised his offspring to become musicians.

In his teens Kina went to Tokyo where he became caught up in the Beatles boom of the big city. He came home banging Western-style rock but no one listened. Dejected by the lack of acceptance, Kina turned to drugs. After serving a one-year jail term, he went to India and met gurus who awakened his indigenous spirituality.

He returned to Okinawa, gathered up his siblings, and began infusing traditional Ryukyu sound into his rock ballads to great success. Okinawa music boomed in Japan's 1990 ethnic wave. In 1991 Kina was selected as one of the year's top recording artists by Japan's music establishment. Long marginalized from the main islands of Japan, Kina's success was a great boost to Okinawans' pride.

Kina Shoukichi and Champloose now plan to take their act overseas. In May they will perform in Beijing --the first musical performance permitted on China's Great Wall by a foreign artist. In the summer, they will tour North America on the way to the Olympics.

Asked why he was chosen to represent Asia at the Games, Kina says its because his music blends East with West. "The problem with the Asian pop scene is that it only tries to imitate Western rock, and will face limitations. Once Asian artists turn to their own roots, the world will be listening."

Despite his global message of peace, Kina is something of an outcast in Okinawa's peace movement. For months activists have mounted an education campaign to force closure of the U.S. military bases here, a campaign galvanized by the rape of an 12-year-old by U.S. soldiers last year. The charismatic Kina has been notably absent from the most visible demonstrations. "The problem with the so-called peace activists in Okinawa is that they don;t have peace in their hearts," he says. Instead, he wants peace to flow not from politics but from the heart.

In Atlanta, Kina will have the last word. Fans here say his music transcends Okinawa while embodying what is best about its music: the passion of a people oppressed by war and social injustice; the light-heartedness of simple farming folk; and the richness of a multi-ethnic legacy. Churn these emotions with pure musical talent and you get world-quality champloose.