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Lecture-Demonstration: “Ryukyu Geino: The Legacy of Kin Ryosho”
There will be a Ryukyuan/Okinawan classical performing arts lecture-demonstration next month on Sunday the 12th from 3PM to 5PM at the University of Hawai‘i School of Architecture Auditorium. Admission is free! From the flyer (download it here in PDF): “Ryukyu Geino: The Legacy of Kin Ryosho,” a free public lecture-demonstration discussing the art and teachings…
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Stereo Pony to be the next big artist out of Okinawa?
I’ve seen a few of them come and go but can J-rock girl band Stereo Pony be the next big artist out of Okinawa in following the gigantic footsteps of ORANGE RANGE (OR) and HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR (HandMC)? If history is any indication, the answer should be a resounding yes, they can and that’s…
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Akane Murayoshi releases debut album!
A song that I completely fell in love with in 2006 also happened to be the Miuta Taishou Grand Prix winner of that same year: “Miyarabi nu Hana.” The song—sung by upcoming utasaa Akane Murayoshi of Kumejima Town—also performed at the Okinawan Festival in Hawaii in 2006. The album, unsurprisingly titled “Miyarabi nu Hana,” was…
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And the awesome new releases for 2008 keep coming!
Geez, I’m really going to go broke this year what with all these great CD releases in the 2nd half of 2008 and with my mom’s and big bro’s birthdays this month, Xmas and that shiny new iPod nano. But I digress. Coming on 10/10/08, an artist whom I really, really admire, Suekichi Matsuda, will…
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Rinken Teruya’s solo album, “Pause,” available on iTunes
We all know him as the leader of perhaps the greatest recorded O-pop group in history, Rinken Band, and Rinken Teruya is finally recording a solo album. Pre-released in a digital format exclusively at the iTunes Store in August 4th of this year (yeah, I missed it), “Pause” (link opens iTunes Store) is an instrumental,…
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A trio of upcoming singles to look out for
HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR’s “Remember,” marked for a 10/15/08 release, will be the band’s last single featuring their lead singer Maakii—who, after announcing her marriage to DREAMS COME TRUE’s bassist Masato Nakamura this past June, will retire from the band. O-pop duo Yanawarabaa will be releasing their 9th single, “Present,” on 11/5/08. “Present” follows the…
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Kariyushi58’s new single, “Kibou no Uta,” gets a street date
Popular rock/reggae quartet, Kariyushi58, will be releasing their next single as a Tower Records limited release on 9/24/08. The single, “Kibou no Uta,” is the CM song for Asahi Shinbunsha’s soccer promotion and there will be a special release of 3,000 copies of the single that will contain a secret track. (Via bounce.com.)
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Eriko Imai to star in “Yuzuriha -Kimi mo mata tsugi no kimi e-“
Eriko Imai (SPEED) will star in an upcoming Japanese film titled “Yuzuriha -Kimi mo mata tsugi no kimi e-” which is set to hit theaters in Japan in Summer of 2009. Eriko’s previous film, the sequel to “Onmyoji” which she also starred in, was released in 2003. (Via Yahoo! Japan.)
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Alan sings “Nada Sou Sou”
OK, I know we don’t normally go outside of our Okinawan pop culture bubble but we had to blog about this J-pop singer that we’re totally excited about: Alan (in keeping with the Japanese infatuation with using lowercase for names, in the J-pop world her name is listed as alan). Alan is a Tibetan/Chinese singer…