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i-Dushi’s “Kaanaa” Becomes “Kanae” as a Solo Artist
One of our favorite Okinawan pop duos, i-Dushi, went on hiatus at the end of last year after a tumultuous two years due to the pandemic and one of the things the artist formerly known as Kaanaa did was change her name to Kanae (which is her real name) to begin life as a solo…
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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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Parsha cluB to Release New Eisaa Collection Album
Longtime readers of Karakui/Riccin know that we’re BIG fans of Parsha cluB. We view the band as a bridge between Rinken Band and BEGIN, and also as a link to new music created by Yonaha Toru and others. So it’s with great pleasure that we see a new 30th anniversary album from them of eisaa…
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Nakasone Hajime’s Amazing 2023
One of the nicest and humblest humans we’ve met, Nakasone Hajime is having an amazing 2023 and it’s much deserved. He recently announced his marriage and now he has a new album “En” that will be released on June 3rd. Can you believe that it’s already been 7 years since his previous album “Ten” was…
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Seven Oops New Single “Yoake” Has a Full Music Video
“Yoake” (released 3/13) is the 3-piece Okinawa pop rock band Seven Oops‘s 14th single and their first release in 3 years! The song is amazing and we’ve had it on repeat since its release. The topping on the cake is that the band recently released a full music video for “Yoake” that has us feeling…
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HoRookies “Dawn” to be the Main Theme Song for the Film “Yō izuru”
Okinawa pop rock band HoRookies announced on Instagram that their single “Dawn” will be the main theme song for the film “Yō izuru (Sunrise)”. The film will have its world premiere in the upcoming 15th Okinawa International Movie Festival on April 15th. We’re looking forward to listening to the new songs and hopefully we’ll be…
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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…
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Brandon Ufugusuku Ing’s New Single “Miji”
Brandon is out with a new single “Miji”! This song was written not only as a response to the water crisis situation at Kapūkakī, also known as Red Hill on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, but also to the situation in Okinawa. There too, the drinking water is being poisoned by the US military. The…
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Amazing Okinawa Minyo Ongaku-mura New Year Concert
Maki from Campus Records recently shared an archive of the Okinawa Minyo Ongaku-mura (in Okinawa City) New Year Concert on YouTube! The concert features the following utasha (musicians): veteran Taba Seishin, Shimabukuro Tatsuya, Matsuda Kazutoshi, Akamaami, and Yui Yui Sisters (Yamakawa Mayumi was unable to attend due to health reasons). Enjoy!
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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…
Karakui 