"I'm forgetting how to speak English," Jake Shimabukuro says, laughing, on his cell phone in a Tokyo train station. He's been in Japan for five weeks, and is learning the subtleties of Nihongo.

His cultural navigation is on hold — he flies back home today, for a gig at the Hawai'i Convention Center Saturday. He'll be promoting his new album, "Gently Weeps," but with two one-hour sets, "I'll definitely have to do more than what's on the CD. So I'll play some old stuff, too."

A lot has been written about the CD's reference to The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Why that iconic song, penned by George Harrison?

"I've always been a big fan of George Harrison," explains Shimabukuro. "He actually played 'ukulele." He notes that on Paul McCartney's DVD of his 2005 tour, for each show McCartney dedicates a song to Harrison, playing it on the 'ukulele.

Shimabukuro started playing the song in concert about three years ago. "And it just naturally developed into this solo 'ukulele arrangement."

He chose the songs on "Gently Weeps" with Nashville music veteran Mac McAnally. "He and I would speak at length at many meetings, and I'd play different things for him, and he'd give me feedback. His main concept was he wanted this album to almost be an introduction to uke for people on the Mainland. I think he wanted to do a project that just represented honestly what I'm doing on the instrument," Shimabukuro says.

The album features the theme song he wrote for the Noggin series "Beyond the Break" — about aspiring pro surfer girls living in Makaha. Since then, Shimabukuro produced the soundtrack for the Japanese feature film "Hula Girl," which is in the lineup at this year's Hawaii International Film Festival. Two cuts from the movie are on his CD.

"That was intense. It was the first time I had to score music for piano, guitar ... strings! I had to write for specific scenes, trying to capture the emotion of what's going on visually, and record it in time while watching the movie."

In the past year, Shimabukuro has also played with other musicians, most notably touring with Bela Fleck, a man who is to the banjo what Shimabukuro is to the uke.

While he looks forward to coming home and playing the Lili'u Theatre, he won't be here long. Just a week later he takes off for a two-week tour of Australia.

It's enough to make an 'ukulele weep.

Reach Lesa Griffith at lgriffith@honoluluadvertiser.com.