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In Hawaii: Churamana
Name sound familiar? Yup, I recently posted an entry about Churamana here and we’ll have a chance to see them live in Hawaii on Friday, August 31, 2007 at the Okinawan Festival in Kapiolani Park. They’ll be performing as part of the “Aloha Concert” set starting from 8pm with Kumu Hula Sonny Ching & Halau…
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In Hawaii: Rinken Band
It looks like it’s confirmed, the group that put the “O” in O-pop, Rinken Band, will be performing a free, wait, let me say that again, FREE (yes, doesn’t it look better emphasized and bold?) concert in Honolulu on Saturday, September 1, 2007. Opening for them will be “Hawaii’s Largest Bon Dance” (yeah, I wish…
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CD Album: Yanawarabaa’s ‘Utagusui’
I’m marking this as the O-pop CD album to buy this year. Yanawarabaa’s forthcoming 1st full-album of 13-tracks, “Utagusui” (AKCY-58033) will be released on August 29, 2007, and the first press edition will come with kunkunshii (think guitar tabs for your sanshin)! Check out my ‘Digging Yanawarabaa’ post for a YouTube clip of this fantastic…
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DVD: Misako Oshiro’s ‘Uta Kataree’
Utasaa great Misako Oshiro is making 2007 a year to remember. She started off the year with her first full-album in 10 years, “Uta Umui” (UBCA-1008, Tuff Beats), and held her 50th anniversary (in Okinawa’s performing arts) recital last month (7/8/07) at the Naha Shimin Kaikan. She’ll be performing around Japan from August to October…
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CD Album: Hirokazu Matsuda’s ‘Sanshin-Zanmai’
Long known as a master utasaa (Okinawan folk musician), it’s hard to believe that the September 26, 2007 “Sanshin-Zanmai” (RES-126, 14 tracks), marks Hirokazu Matsuda’s (The Fere) first nationwide CD album release. Thanks to the awesome record label Respect Record (Seijin Noborikawa, Sadao China, Yoriko Ganeko, Takashi Hirayasu, Ryukyu Underground, Toru Yonaha), fans of Okinawan…
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Hawaiian meets Okinawan: Churamana
If you’re a fan of Hawaiian and Okinawan music you may be interested in the duo Churamana (チュラマナ, roughly translated as “Beautiful [chura, Okinawan] Energy [mana, Hawaiian]”) with Tokyo-born Maki Uehara on vocals/hula and Ishigakijima-born Makiko Miyara (formerly of the O-pop group Donann) on vocals. If you’re familiar with the group TINGARA (Okinawan healing music)…
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Claudia Oshiro’s Debut Album Coming Soon?
According to the Okinawa Cyura Sounds blog (which happens to also be one of my favorite podcasts from Okinawa), Argentine-born nisei (2nd generation) Claudia Oshiro will soon be making her CD debut with The Boom’s Kazufumi Miyazawa as producer! I couldn’t find much info on the album yet — it’ll be called “CLAUDIA” — but…
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[Updated] Hitoe’s New Move: Yoga
Hitoe’s (26, ex-SPEED) official website from Avex hasn’t seen much action since 2005 now that her music career is on hiatus so I pulled the latest news on this talented artist from an entertainment site. While the other members of the group continue on with music-related careers (me, I’m in the hiro camp), Hitoe has…
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Yu Yamada’s Younger Brother to Make TV Drama Debut
Popular model/actress/singer Yu Yamada’s (22) younger brother, Shintaro (20), will be making his small screen debut on a TBS drama called “Yamada Taro Monogatari” which starts on July 6, 2007. The drama will also star Kazunari Ninomiya from the popular Johnny’s J-pop group Arashi. [Via Yahoo! Japan.]
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Haikara’s ‘Dreams’
Following the release of their third album “San”, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR will be releasing a new single on August 1, 2007, called “Dreams”. Tenth single release from HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR features a brand new ballad about the sadness of breaking up. Single also appears as the outro theme to anime series “Darker Than…
Karakui 