This Japanese ukulele prodigy is changing how people view ukulele

<p>Meet Rena, also known by her stage name ukurena, a Japanese ukulele player from Kobe, who became the junior world champion in 2016. She sits down to talk to us about her discovery of the ukulele and subsequent career, how the ukulele is so often misunderstood, and how she&#39;s reinventing what people think of as ukulele music.</p><p><br></p><p>--</p><p>0:00 Intro</p><p>0:50 Meet Rena</p><p>1:56 Learning from a former champion</p><p>11:00 The piece that drew Rena to ukulele</p><p>13:32 Early wins in ukulele competitions</p><p>16:03 What is a ukulele competition?</p><p>19:45 Ukulele in Hawaii vs. Japan</p><p>23:38 Winning international competition</p><p>27:52 Ukulele in Japanese music</p><p>33:44 Becoming a professional musician</p><p>35:58 Different genres with ukulele</p><p>39:28 Studying jazz and performing with emotion</p><p>47:58 Signing with a record label</p><p>52:32 Composing her own music</p><p>57:59 Goals for the future</p><p>1:01:21 Ukulele performance</p><p><br></p><p>--</p><p>Follow Rena:</p><p> @rena_ukulele_japan </p><p>https://www.instagram.com/rena_ukulele</p><p>https://www.facebook.com/rena.ukulele</p><p>https://x.com/rena_ukulele</p><p><br></p><p>Follow us:</p><p>https://unpacking.jp/</p><p>https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japan</p><p>https://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapan</p><p>https://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapan</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshorts</p><p>https://www.x.com/unpacking_japan</p><p>https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapan</p><p><br></p><p>Subscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! </p><p><br></p><p>Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/</p>