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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…
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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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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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ういずあす – 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 ういずあす. 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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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 he’s 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,…
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Akane Murayoshi releases debut album!
A song that I completely fell in love with in 2006 also happened to be the Miuta Taishou Grand Prix winner of that same year: “Miyarabi nu Hana.” The song—sung by upcoming utasaa Akane Murayoshi of Kumejima Town—also performed at the Okinawan Festival in Hawaii in 2006. The album, unsurprisingly titled “Miyarabi nu Hana,” was…
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And the awesome new releases for 2008 keep coming!
Geez, I’m really going to go broke this year what with all these great CD releases in the 2nd half of 2008 and with my mom’s and big bro’s birthdays this month, Xmas and that shiny new iPod nano. But I digress. Coming on 10/10/08, an artist whom I really, really admire, Suekichi Matsuda, will…
Karakui 