Born in 1716. He was stricken with an eye disease that later made him go blind. Yakabi was recognized as a musical genius from his childhood. On orders from the Shuri royal court he traveled to Kagoshima and, using the songs from Noh theater and Chinese music as reference, made scores for Ryukyuan music. Based on his studies, he also reformed and made additions to the Ryukyu classical music of his time. Yakabi is credited with one of the defining pieces of Ryukyuan classical music, the song "Nubui-Kuduchi".