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Sanshin from Ichintou Arakaki Sanshin-ten
Previously. we posted about ordering sanshin and supplies from Okinawa from an online store that ships internationally. Now I’m happy to announce another established store that you can order sanshin to be shipped outside of Okinawa/Japan (please check with the store if your region is supported): Ichintou Arakaki Sanshin-ten. Although you still won’t be able…
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7th World Uchinanchu Festival
The 7th World Uchinanchu Festival has a date set! It will take place in 2022 from October 31st to November 3rd (note the website counts October 30th as the Festival eve). The “World Uchinanchu Festival” honors the achievements of Okinawan people from all over the world, recognises the great value of the community heritage of…
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FC Ryukyu Football/Soccer Team
Previously we’ve introduced Ryukyu Blue Waves (baseball) and Ryukyu Golden Kings (basketball), and now it’s time to introduce Okinawa’s professional football (soccer) team FC Ryukyu. Currently in the second division J2 League (since 2018), the team was founded in 2003 and of the professional sports teams in Okinawa, I think they have the coolest uniform.…
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May 15th
If you follow Japanese Twitter, you may have noticed a few hashtags (like this one #沖縄本土復帰記念日) and tweets leading up to May 15th which marked the 49th year of Okinawa returning to Japan (Okinawa reversion 祖国復帰 and 本土復帰 is also used). NHK Okinawa also hosted a 5-episode special series to commemorate the date. The hashtag…
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Tamashiro Tina to be in Hosoda Mamoru’s Belle
Model and actress Tamashiro Tina will have a voice actress role in Hosoda Mamoru’s 2021 anime feature film BELLE. She will perform the part of Watanabe Ruka, a classmate of the main heroine of the story Suzu (Belle). Below is a tweet from Studio Chizu featuring Tamashiro Tina introducing herself for the role. I’ve watched…
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The Man Who Changed Okinawa (Film)
We don’t get a lot of films from Okinawa so if you see on whether at a festival or on a streaming site, we must watch it! A film that’s currently available on Amazon Prime is The Man Who Changed Okinawa starring Garage Sale’s Gori who we recently featured on Karakui. Here’s the synopsis via…
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GACKT GAMEz New YouTube Channel
Speaking of sub-channels and multiple YouTube channels, GACKT recently created a new one showing him playing games called GACKT GAMEz. The new channel joins his already established channel with 800K+ subscribers, GACKT Channel Gaku-chan. Judging by the number of likes and comments on his tweet announcing the new channel, it looks to be off to…
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MAX THE BOMB’s New Sub YouTube Channel
As if one YouTube channel wasn’t enough, we now see sub channels (or is it subchannel?) and additional ones being created for fans. (Even my favorite YouTuber, MKBHD, recently created a new channel for his podcast.) Called【MAX】MTB まっく素のて〜げ〜ちゃんねる ([MAX] MTB [for Max The Bomb] Makku Moto no Teegee Channeru), they will release videos on a…
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Chuning Candy’s Moving On
Idol group Chuning Candy recently shared a YouTube clip of their new single MOVING ON!! (April 7th digital release) showcasing their amazing dance performance (just a reminder that their dance performance of Dynamic Ryukyu has over 3-million views on YouTube). The title of the new single is interesting (coincidental?) given the April 24th sad news…
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Tadayuki Matsubara: Churaumi, Churashima
This new album by singer and sanshin player Tadayuki Matsubara (released under the full title Churaumi, Churashima ~ Ayagu, Miyako no Uta ~) is, as … Tadayuki Matsubara: Churaumi, Churashima
Karakui 