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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…
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Speaking of Japanese Artists & Okinawan Music
Found about this on Twitter of a live performance of the song Okinawa Samba (from 1980) by Asano Yuko who is perhaps best known as an actress but she began as an idol singer. Upon first discovering the song, I read it as Okinawa Sanba as サンバ is also used for the Ryukyu instrument sanba…
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Suzuhana Yuko (Wagakki Band) Plays Asadoya Yunta
Suzuhana Yuko, the vocalist of the Japanese folk rock band Wagakki Band, recently shared on her YouTube channel that she’s a fan of the sanshin and Okinawan folk music. She performs Asadoya Yunta and talks a bit about how she came upon the instrument and her love of Okinawa. In the video’s description, she writes…
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i-Dushi’s YouTube Channel
I’ve posted about i-Dushi before and lately they’ve been very active on their YouTube channel (link). The video clip above is one of their older ones (2015) performing a cover of Umi no Koe and it has over 3 millions views! In addition to their original songs, they also do Okinawan versions of famous J-pop…
Karakui 