Category Archives: Music

Okinawan Festival 2014 Aug 30-31

Posted on April 20, 2014 by loochoo77

Update 8/17/14: Click here for the program. Click here for the latest flyer.

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Yafaiian Music Concert 2014 in Hawaii – May 18

Posted on April 20, 2014 by loochoo77
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London Okinawa Day 2014

Posted on March 22, 2014 by loochoo77
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Matt Gillan: ‘Imagining Okinawa: Japanese Pop Musicians and Okinawan Music’

Posted on November 22, 2013 by loochoo77

Excerpts from Matt Gillan’s “Imagining Okinawa: Japanese Pop Musicians and Okinawan Music,” Perfect Beat, Equinox, 2009. Gillan is an art and music faculty member at International Christian University, Tokyo. In addition to Okinawan popular music being used to construct Okinawan … Continue reading →

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Ryukyu Underground – Okinawan Fusion Duo Jon Taylor & Keith Gordon

Posted on November 22, 2013 by loochoo77

The following are excerpts from Stephen Mansfield’s “Putting Down Roots with Ryukyu Underground” (Japan Times, 11/22/13). The Englishman, who hails from Newcastle in the northeast, met his future wife, an uchinanchu, or Okinawan, while backpacking in Australia. He confesses to … Continue reading →

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‘Shima Uta’: One of the Best Known Okinawan Songs

Posted on August 1, 2013 by loochoo77

Last updated 5/21/17 9:42am “Shima Uta” (“島唄” or “Island Song” released in 1993) was written by Kazufumi Miyazawa (宮沢和史), the lead singer of the band The Boom, based on his impressions from visiting Okinawa for a photo shoot in 1992. … Continue reading →

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Uta no Hi 2013 Photos: A Mahalo to Hawaii’s Okinawan Community

Posted on June 30, 2013 by loochoo77

Updated 1/2/16 I did it. I watched the entire 7:00PM to 1:30AM live webcast, beginning Friday evening and ending early Saturday morning, of the “Uta no Hi” concert from Kadena, Okinawa, Japan. The annual event, I learned, was developed and … Continue reading →

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BEGIN’s ‘Uta no Hi’ Concert Live Via Internet 6/28/13, 7:00pm-1:30am Hawaii Time

Posted on June 28, 2013 by loochoo77

Click the image above or go to this site to watch the concert: http://stolabo-tokyo.com/?aid=251 Streaming live from Kadena, Okinawa, on 6/29, from 2pm to 8:30pm Hawaii time:  6/28, from 7pm to 1:30am For those who don’t know the popular Okinawan … Continue reading →

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Gackt

Posted on June 27, 2013 by loochoo77

Last updated 3/28/19 8:16 am In the video1 below, Gackt2 and Wang Lee Hom perform “Orenji no Taiyou,”3 theme song from the film Moon Child4. Their co-stars Zeny Kwok and Yamamoto Taro also appear on stage. Missing is Hyde, who … Continue reading →

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‘Hana’ (花) – The Most Moving Okinawa Minyo

Posted on June 23, 2013 by loochoo77

Last Updated 3/25/19  2:32 pm “Hana” (花) was written and composed by Kina Shoukichi (喜納昌吉). The full title is “Subete no Hito no Kokoro ni Hana O” (すべての人の心に花を), and a rough English translation is “Flowers for Your Heart.” It’s from … Continue reading →

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‘Nada Sou Sou’ – Hawaiian Connection

Posted on June 23, 2013 by loochoo77

Not many are aware that Kealiʻi Reichel‘s “Ka Nohona Pili Kai” (“The Living By the Sea” – Kuhi) is a Hawaiian cover of “Nada Sou Sou.” This fusion is a testament to the song’s universal appeal. See the Hawaiian and … Continue reading →

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‘Nada Sou Sou’: Cultural Fusion

Posted on June 22, 2013 by loochoo77

Updated 11/22/13, 6/4/14 “Nada Sou Sou” (涙そうそう )1 was a hit single released by Natsukawa Rimi (夏川 りみ) in 2001. It inspired a movie by the same name, released on 30 Sep. 2006.2 “Nada Sou Sou” was composed by BEGIN … Continue reading →

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Uema Ayano (上間綾乃): Okinawan Soul

Posted on June 21, 2013 by loochoo77

Last updated 3/25/19 1:52pm To get a feel for what it means to be Okinawan, turn to their folk music, or Okinawa minyo. For me, a sansei in the U.S. with Okinawan roots, Uema’s performance provided the first real connection … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 9 Comments