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Misako Koja’s latest album, “Miguru Inochi,” to be released on 10/25/08
Misako Koja’s “Miguru Inochi” will be her first new album in eight years following the fantastic “Amakakiru Hashi” released in 2000. With a total of 12 tracks, “Miguru Inochi” also includes an album versions of the powerful “Kuroi Ame (Black Rain)” and the beautiful “Kuganingwa” (one of my personal favorites of Misako’s). According to her…
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Kiroro’s Kinjo expecting again – Tokyograph
Ayano Kinjo, the keyboardist of the duo Kiroro, is pregnant with her second child. Her agency announced the news on Friday. She is currently in her third month and is scheduled to give birth in March. Like her partner Chiharu Tamashiro, Kinjo got married in 2005. She gave birth to a daughter later that year.…
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Yui Aragaki to cover Kobukuro song – Tokyograph
Actress Yui Aragaki has announced her second single. It will be a cover of Kobukuro’s ‘Akai Ito,’ a song originally created during their indie days. With this year being the 10th anniversary of their formation, Kobukuro decided to collaborate with a female artist to give the song new life. Aragaki made her singing debut last…
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Enjoy pictures from this year’s Okinawan Festival in Hawaii
So I didn’t live-blog this year’s Okinawan Festival but not to fret, there are pictures up on the Web that’ll make you feel as if you were there IRL. HonoluluAdvertiser.com (link: http://bit.ly/WpuIF) has a total of seven pics up here—several of the pics featuring Derek Ichiro Shiroma’s group Urizun’s performance on Saturday. starbulletin.com (link: http://bit.ly/4aVJ8G)…
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Tamagusuku Ryu Senjukai Frances Nakachi Ryubu Dojo to celebrate 10th anniversary on 11/16/2008
I had a chance to chat with Frances Nakachi-sensei, director of the Tamagusku Ryu Senjukai Frances Nakachi Ryubu Dojo, this weekend at the Okinawan Festival and found out that her dance troupe will be celebrating their 10th anniversary with a performance at the Hawaii Theatre on November 16, 2008 (Sunday) at 2 PM. More information…
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Katsuko Teruya’s “Koto Rainbow” on October 26, 2008
Master Katsuko Teruya will be holding her 40th anniversary concert, “Koto Rainbow (Kutu Nuuji),” on Sunday, October 26, 2008. The concert will take place at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center and featured guests from Okinawa include Choichi Terukina (Afuso Ryu), Nozo Miyagi II (Miyagi Ryu) and Hiroko Akamine (president of the Ryukyu Sokyoku Koyo…
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Update on the upcoming Okinawan Festival in Hawaii
Gosh, how time flies as the 26th annual Okinawan Festival (Honolulu, Hawaii) begins this weekend. Like every year, we have special guest performers and this year we’ll have a chance to see Yaeyama singer-songwriter Mamoru Miyagi, newcomer Tatsuya Shimabukuro and a band called Tokonatsu Band that I took the time to track down today. Tokonatsu…
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Charts: Amuro #1 for third straight week – Tokyograph
Namie Amuro has firmly re-established herself as one of the top pop queens, achieving her third consecutive week at #1 on the album charts. Her ‘BEST FICTION’ collection debuted with the highest opening sales so far this year, and with another 153,000 copies sold this past week, the album has become her 5th million-seller. Her…
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SPEED gets back together – Tokyograph
The 4-member girl group SPEED will soon be reuniting again. They will officially resume activity with an appearance on NTV’s charity telethon ’24 Hour Television’ at the end of this month. The group debuted in 1996 but broke up in 2000, at the height of their popularity, in order to pursue solo careers. They had…
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Okinawa City Okinawa (沖縄市) blogs “Obon=Eisa”
We live in Okinawa City, which boasts the best Eisa teams in the country; so each section of the city (Goya, Takahara, Awase, etc.) has a team that goes through the neighboroods playing during Obon. (Via Okinawa City Okinawa (沖縄市): Obon=Eisa.) Paul has YouTube clips up on his site too so check it out! (Paul,…
Karakui 