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“Hanamizuki Okinawa Hougen Ver.” is the MV of the Year
If you watch one music video on YouTube, this must be it. The MV is an acoustic cover of the very popular J-pop song Hanamizuki by Hitoto Yō (she’s Japanese and Taiwanese) and matches well with Uchinaa-guchi and Ryūkyū instruments, dance and vocals. (Another version to listen to is from Amami Ōshima’s Minami Kizuki.) The…
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Eisaa Don-Don (Drama)
To commemorate the 65th anniversary of the All-Island Eisaa Festival (canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic), a drama special was shown on OTV on February 13th of this year. It looks like a must-watch drama and I love the part in the above trailer when it shows one of the drama’s themes: “We will…
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BTS’s Dynamite in Uchinaa-guchi
What better example of Ryukyuan pop culture than this cover of K-pop group BTS‘s super-catchy Dynamite sung in Uchinaa-guchi? The brilliant cover is by Toume Yoshiaki (Usumasa Okinawa) who is an uta-sanshin player, Okinawa shibai actor, and a Ryukyuan Dance performer. Be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel and follow him on Twitter. I’m…
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Gori’s (Garage Sale) Comeback
I can say without a doubt that Teruya Toshiyuki aka Gori (from the comedic duo Garage Sale) is the most important person in Ryūkyū pop culture. Known widely as Gori the comedian, if his last name Teruya rings a bell for those that follow Ryūkyū pop culture, yes, it’s that Teruya. His grandfather is the…
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JO1 K-pop + J-pop
If you’re into Korean pop culture and music, you’re going to want to check out the boy group JO1 (jay-oh-one) from Japan. The group was formed through the reality competition show PRODUCE 101 JAPAN (similar to the popular girs group NiziU) in 2020 and released their debut single Protostar on March 4, 2020. The leader…
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@LoochooW on Twitter
Here’s a great way to learn Uchinaguchi via Twitter by following @LoochooW. There’s also a language account @ryuukyu_Lan but it’s only in Japanese and although this other one is only in Japanese, it’s a fun one to follow since it’s @Ryujin_Mabuyer.
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Pro Cyclist Arashiro Yukiya
There’s a world-class pro road cyclist from Ishigaki, Arashiro Yukiya, who has been in the pro peloton from 2006. Many people may not associate pro road cycling with Okinawa outside of the Tour de Okinawa and triathlon events so Yukiya is truly a standout. He’s one of a handful of racers from Asia to participate…
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OAA Annual High School Scholarship 2021
APPLICATION FORM:Please contact the OAA officeoaamensore@gmail.com, (310) 532-1929 DEADLINE:Hand-delivered to the OAA office by 4 p.m.on MAY 28, 2021… OAA Annual High School Scholarship 2021
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Kiiyama Shouten (きいやま商店)
I remember Kiiyama Shouten when they had their CD debut and thought it would be a one-time variety type of release. To my surprise they’ve kept going for over a decade and recently released a new single Akasatana with a very fun music video featuring popular Okinawan TikTokers. To their credit (or to their record…
Karakui 