Jake Shimabukuro

Jake Shimabukuro did something I never thought possible: he made me take the ukulele completely seriously. Born in Honolulu, he coaxes jazz, blues, funk, rock, flamenco, and more out of four little strings with finger work so fast it rewires your expectations. There's also a quiet thrill, for a Japanese reader, in that Okinawan-rooted name. I have a real soft spot for artists who breathe ambition into a humble, underestimated instrument, and Shimabukuro is the gold standard.

Name (English)

Jake Shimabukuro

Name (Japanese)

ジェイク・シマブクロ

Reading

じぇいく・しまぶくろ

Born

November 3, 1976 (age 49)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Scorpio / Dragon

Origin

Honolulu, United States

Occupation

composer / guitarist / jazz musician / ukulelist / musician

High school

Kaimuki High School

• Official sitehttps://jakeshimabukuro.com/
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/jakeshimabukuro/
• Xhttps://x.com/jakeshimabukuro
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake%20Shimabukuro
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%82%A7%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B7%E3%83%9E%E3%83%96%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AD
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q933904

Tags

• composer
• guitarist
• jazz musician

Last updated

2026-06-23

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.