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Web: Ryukyu Minyo Ongaku Kyokai
Many of you may know about Okinawa minyo, but you may not know that there are many different organizations of the music in Okinawa and one of them is the Ryukyu Minyo Ongaku Kyokai, or RMOK. I’m actually pretty excited about this entry because having a large, traditional, organization like the RMOK build a website…
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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…
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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. π (Nifee deebitan for the invite, Derek-sensei!)
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Ayano Uema posts images on her blog from her Kansai tour
Utasaa Ayano Uema’s blog entry on her recent Kansai tour is filled with both candid and on-stage images. The first of the trio of concerts took place at Live House MAXA in Matsuzaka City, Mie Prefecture (yes, it’s where the famous Matsuzaka beef is from), and was filmed live by the city’s TV station. To…
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γγγγγ – the trio formerly known as ‘wiz-us’
Waiting for me in my inbox this morning was an email from Mark about a group from Okinawa named γγγγγ. At first I didn’t recognize the group but upon further research (ah, googling how I love thee) I found that the trio formerly went by the name “wiz-us” (which is how the current name is…
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Minami Kizuki’s amazing debut single “Aitsumugi”
We’re always on the lookout for new artists to listen to and we’re happy to announce the debut of 19 year-old Minami Kizuki (εεζ΅·—interesting how it’s read, no?) who released her first single, “Aitsumugi,” on January 7, 2009. Upon listening to the single, one will definitely think of Chitose Hajime (oh, forgot to mention that…
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Ayano Uema’s recording of her 2nd album
While I couldn’t find a release date for utasaa Ayano Uema’s forthcoming (and untitled) sophomore album, we can rest assured that she’s busy recording for it and is posting her progress of it on her blog here, here, and here. If you haven’t already purchased it, Ayano’s (and two other awesome female utasaa, Mika Uchizato…
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Matsuda Kazutoshi no Teegee Rajio
Utasaa Kazutoshi “Kaazuu” Matsuda launched his own internet radio show, Matsuda Kazutoshi no Teegee Rajio, at the beginning of the month and now heβs added a much welcome m3u version (it launched with Real Player) for the last two shows (#3 and #4). Although it’s all in Japanese, it’s worth listening to as he introduces…
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Ayano Uema’s official website is up!
She announced it today on her blog and here it is: uemaayano.com! Filled with a lot of Ayano pics (some of them quite huge but it’s not like we’re complaining), her official website contains information on her schedule, profile, and links to her blog and original goods too. Once again, we see a reference to…
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Introducing Three Strings: Everything Sanshin
Today we’re announcing a new website called Three Strings: Everything Sanshin. We’re hoping it’ll do for sanshin, what Karakui.com has done for Okinawan pop culture: make information for that subject available to a larger audience. Please kindly add the website to your browser’s bookmarks or even better, add it to your newsreader. Nifee deebitan! Richie,…
Karakui 