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YouTube: Yoshio Kojima
One of my daily routines every night is to check YouTube’s Most Viewed of the Day and I’ve been seeing a lot of clips from a Japanese comedian by the name of Yoshio Kojima. Lo and behold, he’s from Okinawa! A graduate of Waseda University, the comedian got his big break from his appearances in…
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SPEED MASTER
This song rocks! The song “SPEED MASTER” is a collaboration between J-pop group m.o.v.e and Okinawan J-rock group 8-BALL and is the theme song for a movie (think “Initial D”) of the same name starring Shunsuke Nakamura. I think the song as a collaboration is what really makes it much more powerful than if either…
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Kenshin Uesugi the Rock Star
This clip of Gackt as Kenshin Uesugi in a modern setting is way cool. (Gackt is playing the role of Kenshin Uesugi in the NHK Taiga Drama “Fuurin Kazan”.)
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Links to Waste Your Time with: Videos Tagged with Sanshin on YouTube
If you’ve been following my posts today you’re already aware that I’ve been including accompanying clips found on YouTube. The amount of sanshin-related videos (amateur and professional) you’ll find on YouTube can keep you occupied for days so for those of you with enough free time on your hands to sit in front of your…
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El Okinawa Goes YouTube and We Love It!
El Okinawa, known as being a great online (although they also have a brick-and-mortar store near Kokusai-dori) resource for purchasing Okinawan instruments has just started posting instructional clips up on YouTube about a month ago. Besides the how-to on attaching a guitar strap to your sanshin, they also have a clip on the correct way…
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J-MELO in Okinawa!
On today’s episode (#119) of NHK’s English-language music show J-MELO, VJ (and popular J-pop artist) melody. announced an upcoming show with the focus being on Okinawa. Yay! There was a short clip of melody. singing a song of hers with Yukito Ara (Parsha cluB) on sanshin and Isamu Shimoji on guitar that should be pretty…
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Yukie Nakama and Aya Ueto are Japan’s CM Queens
Nakama’s still the CM queen: Video Research Ltd. has published its mid-year report on TV commercials, which includes a section measuring celebrities’ exposure. On top of the list is actress Yukie Nakama, continuing her streak as ‘CM queen’ since 2005. In the Kanto region, Nakama had a total of 6,175 commercial broadcasts, adding up to…
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In Hawaii: Miiuta Taishou Winner Takayuki Oshiro [Unconfirmed]
Last year, one of my favorite upcoming utasaa, Akane Murayoshi, came to Hawaii as part of Radio Okinawa’s annual Miiuta Taishou Grand Prix winner’s prize. This year’s (the 18th annual) grand prix winner is Takayuki Oshiro (his nickname is ‘Ootaka’ おおたか) who will be performing his winning composition, “Sakasanaya∼”. The YouTube clip above is Ootaka…
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Found on YouTube: ‘Shiisaa no Gokigenyousa’
One of the funniest skits I’ve seen by Garage Sale from the FujiTV show “Wannai R&R” (One Night Rock ‘n Roll). Garage Sale — watchers of the NHK series “Chura-san” will be familiar with the comedic duo — Okinawan-ize a well-established variety show called “RAION no Gokigenyou” (see clips from the original on YouTube) complete…
Karakui 