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Musician Kuniko Sets the Bar High with Her New EP
We featured the teaser music video a few days ago and now we have Kuniko’s new and amazing EP “Identity” to add to our Heavy Rotation music playlist. Featuring a total of 5 tracks, “Identity” is available on major streaming platforms which is definitely a win for those outside of Okinawa. Can Kuniko be regarded…
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Okinawa Everywhere All at Once
A long time dream come true to see my hero pro cyclist Arashiro Yukiya (if you don’t know him, he is the 🐐 [G.O.A.T. means greatest of all time] in all of Asian cycling and he’s from Ishigaki Island) in a road race during the Saitama Criterium in Japan. Although I wasn’t able to meet…
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Musicians Oyakawa Haruka & Tanahara Kenta in “Toki no Suisaiga”
The long-running YouTube series “Toki no Suisaiga” and one of the most missed gems on the platform for Ryukyu culture finally, yes finally, released a couple of videos with English subtitles. The first video features popular Ryukyu classical musician Oyakawa Haruka (pictured above) performing the song “Nakarata Bushi (なからた節)”. Haruka has been on the series…
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Koza Machi Channel (YouTube)
You’re in for a treat. Koza Machi Channel (コザまちチャンネル) on YouTube created a special cultural program “Tatta Futari no Kai (A meeting for two)” featuring top musicians/artists Maekawa Shuken “Gen-chan” and Yonaha Toru. As you can see from the screenshot, they don’t only play sanshin but also dance and talk story too. The program comes…
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The Mark of Empire (YouTube)
Located to Japan’s extreme south, the Ryukyu Archipelago was the setting for the small but vibrant Ryukyu Kingdom that emerged 600 years ago. Peter travels to its idyllic island settings to see how the Ryukyu identity is finding new meaning today as he visits a tattoo studio reviving an almost-lost traditional style, goes on a…
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The Weird Al of Okinawa? Tohme Yoshiaki
What can we say about Tohme Yoshiaki that’s better seen by watching his YouTube parody videos that are done in Uchinaaguchi. Here’s a couple that are very fun. But don’t let the parody videos and his food-filled Instagram fool you as his real occupation is a Ryukyu traditional arts performer (琉球伝統芸能実演家) and he’s an actor…
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An Introduction (Pinned)
But first, a meme. The image (a meme) reads: When Twitter was the place all of us with similar interests would gather, we often saw the same complaints (very justified IMHO) whenever an anime, TV show, or movie about Okinawa (or filmed in Okinawa) was released. In reaction to this, a prominent Okinawan stage (Okinawa…
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Two Okinawan Films at the HIFF 2023 Fall Festival!
The 2023 fall Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) will screen two films from Okinawa. The first one is “This Land is Your Land (Shima ni Kaeru)” directed by Mitake Naoto and stars the most famous male actor from Okinawa, Shogen. Two actors I’m interested in seeing from this film are Miyara Shinobu (one of the…
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The Session from Toki no Suisaiga (YouTube)
Toki no Suisaiga is one of those special programs that I wish were translated into more languages. It has such amazing episodes. For their The Session series (it’s preceded by two full seasons), it features collaborations between traditional performing arts musicians with modern artists/musicians. In episode #14 (pictured above), we see the Luchu Kuuchoo performed…
Karakui 