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OKIDOKI Featuring CHOUJI & Grace Aimi
Here’s the champuru mix we’ve been waiting for and we’ll make it our theme song to close out 2023: OKIDOKI featuring CHOUJI and Grace Aimi! Oh, and we can’t forget the special treat of Deigo Musume too! OKIDOKI is produced by Bigknot Records and is newly arranged from the Okinawan minyou song “Kokoro no Furusato”…
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Our Voices Through Rapper Awich
If you’re a new reader of Karakui, you may think it’s mainly a blog about Awich (and YU-KA) because of how often we post about her. It’s just that this is how BIG she’s become and it’s very much deserved. Being a female rapper in Okinawa and Japan and becoming famous enough to command a…
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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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Brandon Ufugusuku Ing’s “Chijuyaa” on the DisOrient 2023 Film Festival
We think we first saw the video for Brandon Ufugusuku Ing’s “Chijuyaa” during one of the HUOA’s YouTube channel livestreams and thought it was an amazing arrangement of “Hamachiduri” and a very beautiful video. Now we’ll have a chance to watch it again as it’s been selected to be streamed on the DisOrient 2023 Film…
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Amazon Smile Charity Raises $850 for HUOA in 2022
(Pictured: Hat In4mation Purple Bingata) There are many ways to donate to the Hawaii United Okinawa Association (HUOA) and one of the easiest is to choose them as your AmazonSmile charitable organization. So every time you shop on AmazonSmile, you donate to HUOA! I think they just added their organization to AmazonSmile late this year…
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Cesar Farro Yamaguchi & His Grandfather’s Sanshin
(via Twitter) Here’s a heart-warming story about a 3rd generation Peruvian-Okinawa, Cesar Farro Yamaguchi, who brought his grandfather’s sanshin to Okinawa. Currently studying sanshin craftsmanship in Okinawa at Naha’s Shoukoubou (尚工房) under sanshin maker Kishimoto Naoto, Cesar had his grandfather’s sanshin appraised by the Ryukyu Sanshin Musical Instrument Preservation and Development Association and it was…
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Yukkii (Kyan x Kyan) Debuts as Singer Chiichiikaakaa but There’s a Big Hitch
Yukkii from the Okinawa comedy duo Kyan x Kyan recently made his Rising Records singer (character?) debut as an “Okinawan Dialect Traditional Artist”. Yup, he uses the word dialect. 😢 He follows in the footsteps of Gori (Garage Sale), Ryuchell, Higa Ryuuta (Arinkurin), and Jun (Okinawa Channel) among others. A digital single is expected to…
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China Sadao Interview – RBC News
China Sadao interview from RBC News for his song “Bye Bye Okinawa” This is an amazing interview with China Sadao-sensei on RBC News’s YouTube channel. The theme of the interview is based on his hit shimauta pop song “Bye Bye Okinawa” and goes pretty deep for a 7-minute clip. Here’s a video of the current…
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Miyagi Karin’s “Chimuganasa” (Short Shorts Film Festival)
Model/singer/entrepreneur/actress and now film director Miyagi Karin’s “Chimuganasa” is available for online screening with English subtitles until June 30th as part of the Short Shorts Film Festival. The film which was written and directed by Karin, brings together three generations of actresses with the veterans Yoshida Taeko, Kyan Hitomi (currently on NHK’s “Chimudondon”), and Karin.…
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World Sanshin Festival
For the first time, a World Sanshin Festival will be held in the fall to coincide with the 7th Worldwide Uchinānchu Festival (10/30 to 11/3). Looks like they’ll do a “tour festival” in an effort to reduce crowds due to the ongoing pandemic and the World Sanshin Festival will be held every five years after…
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