-
Gackt’s Activities Suspended Indefinitely
His latest video on his YouTube channel was over 4 weeks ago and with his uploads being quite regular, it was strange to not see any new content from him. Reported on 9/8 on Gackt’s website, we finally found out the reason behind his absence: As far as the information regarding this situation, after returning to Japan on August 6th, we have been contacted by GACKT saying that he is “unwell”. After a while, his condition suddenly worsened. His early onset neurological disease was triggered and at this point it progressed into a life-threatening condition. https://gackt.com/contents/454205 As you can…
-
All-Star Musicians Gather for Sanlele’s Day
Sanlele’s Day is the 30th of August and for this year a group of all-star musicians got together to perform the song “Dumifa no Uta”. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the sanlele, it was created by Alberto Shiroma (Diamantes) and Machidaya (Yomitan village) to be a combination of the sanshin “san” and…
-
Turn All Weapons into Instruments
A recent web article on Hub Okinawa features a story on Kina Shoukichi and the peculiar release of his enka song “Fujisan Japan” — his first single in 39 years! The article discusses his new single as well as the single that started it all, “Haisai Ojisan” written when he was 13 years old. The…
-
Kanako Hatoma’s second album, “Tiida nu Fwaa”
Yeah, I’m late on this one as it’s been sitting in my To-Do list for several months. So without further ado… Yaeyama singer Kanako Hatoma (26) released her second album, “Tiida nu Fwaa,” in October of last year. The album follows her debut album “Yoon no Michi” which was released in 2001 on Sadao China’s…
-
Veteran Amami utasha Ikue Asazaki
We often focus on the new singers from Amami-Oshima like Rikki Nakano, Chitose Hajime, Kosuke Atari, and Minami Kizuki, leaving out the traditional singers. So, better late than never, no? Ikue Asazaki is a veteran utasha (now in her 70s) who has been singing Amami shimauta since picking it up from her father and regarded…
-
New year get-together and fellowship dinner
Happy New Year to the Okinawa Minyo Kyokai Derek Ichiro Shiroma Kenkyusho and Jane Kaneshiro Sozan Kai who will have a New Year get-together and fellowship dinner this Friday night at the Jikoen Hongwanji Mission. I’ll be there and I’m hoping to see some of you there too. 🙂 (Nifee deebitan for the invite, Derek-sensei!)
-
Bassist Yo Yasuda’s BeatMaster iPhone/iPod touch app
Currently based in Okinawa, professional bass player Yo Yasuda has played with a number of artists like Syakari, Siori, and Namiko. Although that should be enough to be of interest to our pop culture blog, he’s gone and done something to really excite us: introducing the BeatMaster app for iPhone and iPod touch. According to…
-
Update: Ukulele Picnic 2009 in Hawaii
I posted an entry a couple of weeks ago about the upcoming Ukulele Picnic 2009 in Hawaii concert and it looks like we have a time slot for Keith Nakaganeku and BEGIN’s Masaru Shimabukuro. The special collaboration between these two amazing musicians is set to take the stage from 3:10 PM for a 15-minute set.…
-
Website: Simple Sanshin Source
Simple Sanshin Source is “an English-based guide to the Okinawan sanshin” that features kunkunshi (sheet music), lyrics, and tips by Kenji, a self-taught sanshin enthusiast. Given that I haven’t been very good at updating Three Strings, Simple Sanshin Source looks to be the online place to learn about the sanshin. There’s also a YouTube channel…
-
Mark this date: 2/14/09 Ukulele Picnic in Hawaii
One of my favorite artists of both Okinawan and Hawaiian music is Keith Nakaganeku (with his band Calabash) and I got a tip that he’ll be performing along with his friend Masaru Shimabukuro (BEGIN‘s guitarist) at this year’s Ukulele Picnic 2009 in Hawaii on Saturday, February 14, 2009. He’ll be singing “Nada Sou Sou” and…
Karakui 