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71st Kouhaku Uta-Gassen with Nikaido Fumi
Yes, it was a very different NHK Kouhaku Uta-Gassen (the 71st) with the ongoing pandemic performances were done without an audience. But for those that are fans of Okinawan pop culture, we can celebrate that popular actress Nikaido Fumi (Naha, Okinawa) was one of the announcers for the annual song battle. She currently starts in…
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Happy New Year!
Wishing everyone a safe and happy new year! In Okinawa, my family also celebrates the Lunar (Chinese) New Year so we have twice the celebrations.
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Koza Uprising Twitter Thread @toranosukev
If you want to learn more about the Koza Uprising, Travis has an amazing Twitter thread.
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50 Years Since Koza Unrest
Sunday marks 50 years since unrest which occurred after a car driven by US military personnel hit a local resident near a US base in Okinawa. The unrest took place on December 20, 1970, two years before reversion of the southern prefecture from the United States to Japan. Residents of the area expressed anger by…
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Voice Actor Shimabukuro Miyuri in Carole & Tuesday
If you’re looking for an amazing anime to binge on before the year ends, look no further than Carole & Tuesday which is streaming on Netflix (US). It has a great story, great music, and a great message. Voice actor Shimabukuro Miyuri (島袋美由利) from Okinawa voices Carole (singing is done by Nai Br.XX) and although…
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Chuning Candy
Chuning Candy is a 5-member idol girl group that formed in 2013 from the CAT’S EYE talent school in Naha Okinawa. They follow history of idol groups from Okinawa that includes Super Monkey’s, MAX, Da Pump, Speed, D&D, and Folder 5. The members of Chunican are Kotone (琴音), Sophie (ソフィー), Lili (LILI), Yuuri (ゆうり), and…
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Shurayo by Frou Frou (Imogen Heap & Guy Sigsworth)
In addition to being a fan of Okinawan music, I also listen to a lot of other music and have been a fan of Imogen Heap and her band with Guy Sigsworth, Frou Frou. In 2019 they released an EP called Shurayo featuring the tracks Shurayo, Shimauta, and Shurayo (Mika’s Version). So you must be…
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Hawaii United Okinawa Association Goes YouTube
The Hawaii United Okinawa Association (HUOA link) has gone to YouTube to reach out to its community and to the rest of the world. Many of us were saddened that their annual Okinawan Festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic something that performers, volunteers, and visitors look to every Labor Day weekend. This year…
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@horinyo on Twitter
75年前の沖縄。 1945年6月 母親と子供たち。沖縄戦が激化する沖縄本島の首里近辺にて。 白黒写真を、人工知能＋手動補正でカラー化しました。 pic.twitter.com/KjQbtsuVYW — ホリーニョ (@horinyo) December 6, 2020 Maybe weekly, I’ll feature an account on Twitter that’s worth a follow. Today I’m featuring @horinyo (ホリーニョ) from Osaka who tweets colorized black and white photos of Okinawa before and after the war. The photos are amazing and with close to 9,000 of them,…
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons New CM Features Aragaki Yui
https://twitter.com/nintendo/status/1335755540467646464?s=21 Being a big fan of this game, it’s with great pleasure to see the latest CM (from the Japanese version of the game あつまれ どうぶつの森) feature Aragaki Yui! Did you know that there’s an Okinawan villager in this game? There’s also an Okinawan song by K.K. Slider. I’ll write about this in an upcoming…
Karakui 