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Murasaki Mura Ryukyu Kingdom Theme Park
From May 23rd to June 30th 2021, Murasaki Mura is offering free admission to its Ryukyu Kingdom theme park while actually being temporarily closed due to the emergency declaration for Okinawa. Sounds like a great opportunity for picture-taking like @Okinawanderer.
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Ryukyu Historical Drama Shō En Ou (TV)
In the category of “I really want to watch this!” comes the RBC Ryukyu historical drama Shō En Ou (the king of the second Shō dynasty) which aired in February 2020 and is being streamed on Japan’s Paravi service and sold as a DVD (sadly, no English subtitles for both editions). The cast is led…
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OR’s NAOTO & HIROKI Contributes to 7ORDER’s 1st Major Single Release
ORANGE RANGE‘s guitarist NAOTO and vocalist (mid-range) HIROKI provided the music and lyrics to the 1st major single (double A-side) for J-pop group 7ORDER. The song is titled “SUMMER sama-sama” and is coupled with the single “Ame ga hajimari no aizu” and set to be released on July 7th. It’s great to see the OR…
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7th Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival Logo & Slogan Contest
Showcase your creativity and earn fame and money by submitting a logo and/or a slogan for next year’s 7th Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival! The application deadline is Friday, July 9, 2021, and the winner(s) will be announced in late August (subject to change). As the slogan can be emailed and multiple entries are being accepted, I’ll…
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Miyazato Rira to Graduate from AKB48
Surprised? Yes, there actually is (soon to be was) an AKB48 (a popular idol group in Japan) member from Okinawa, Miyazato Rira. She is part of Team 8 (there are 5 teams in total named A, K, B, 4, and 8) which was formed in 2014 and was formed to represent one of the 47…
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Ganeko Yoriko’s Utahime Livestream on YouTube
It’s crazy times that we’re able to watch a livestream of the amazing Ganeko Yoriko‘s performances at her minyou stage Utahime. I visited there a long time ago with a group and we were invited to do an impromptu live performance on her stage. She’s very gracious and kind so if you’re in Okinawa, be…
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Uchinaa-Muuku
Speaking of Aragaki Yui’s marriage announcement, she joins a growing list of popular actresses/singers from Okinawa with Uchinaa-muuku (son-in-law of Okinawa) husbands. 2021 Hoshino Gen (actor) to Aragaki Yui 2017 Kamiyama Ryuji (actor) to Chibana Kurara 2016 Inoue Yoshio (actor) to Chinen Rina 2014 Mukai Osamu (actor) to Kuninaka Ryoko 2014 Tanaka Tetsushi (actor) to…
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Freshly Made Spam & Egg Onigiri at Potama
I recently went to check out a restaurant chain from Okinawa that has a location in Waikiki (Honolulu, Hawaii) called Potama (short for Pork Tamago Onigiri). In Okinawa, pork usually refers to pork luncheon meat that’s made by Hormel (Spam) or by Tulip. Hawaii has a similar popular local food called Spam musubi that’s readily…
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I-Dushi Announces First & Final Live Concert of 2021!
You’re probably already familiar with the pop duo I-Dushi as we have several posts about them this year. On the 19th through their official Twitter account, they announced their first and final live acoustic concert of the year. No, they’re not breaking up but rather singer/sanshinist Cana will soon be going on maternity leave. So…
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Aragaki Yui’s Marriage Announcement
Japanese Twitter was abuzz with news of popular actress Aragaki Yui’s sudden announcement that she will be marrying actor/musician Hoshino Gen. The pair appeared on the drama The Full-Time Wife Escapist in 2016 (which aired on Hawaii’s Kiku TV) which is interesting as it was about a fake married couple that grew to have true…
Karakui 