Karakui - Okinawan Pop Culture

With the upcoming release of their fifth original major label album, “PANIC FANCY,” due out on 7/9, ORANGE RANGE’s label (Sony Records) has special commemorative wallpapers up on the site. Better grab them fast because they go bye-bye on the 9th. (Via 壁紙fan!)

I skipped over the headlines in the Japanese news outlets I follow because the only mention was that Masato Nakamura—of one of the greatest J-pop bands, Dreams Come True—was marrying a woman 29 years his junior. So imagine my surprise to find that his wife is none other than HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR’s lead vocalist Maki. Whoa. Kudos to Tokyograph for including Maki’s name in their headline.

A surprising wedding announcement was made on Tuesday: Masato Nakamura, the 49-year-old bassist of DREAMS COME TRUE, has married 20-year-old Maki, a vocalist for the band HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR. The couple submitted their marriage registration on June 22.

Nakamura and Maki, whose maiden name is Onaga, reportedly met just this past spring, and they decided to tie the knot after only a few months.

The young Maki dropped out of school during her second year of high school to focus on her music career, debuting with HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR in 2004. In addition to her success with the band, she landed a starring role as an actress in the 2007 movie ‘Anata wo Wasurenai’ (directed by Junji Hanado).

Maki also announced that she plans to drop out of HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR by the end of the year. The other members are said to be supporting her decision, and the group will remain active without her.

(Via Tokyograph.)

Yup, I just had to emphasize that last paragraph. HandMC definitely won’t be the same band without Maki but I really wish them (the new couple and the band) well.

It was just a few days ago that we blogged about Meisa Kuroki making her debut as a singer and now the folks at Toshiba (she’s in the company’s mobile phone [Sportio] commerical) have a wallpaper up on the special Play-T site. Also available for your viewing pleasure is the TVCM featuring Meisa and her debut single “Like This.” (Via 壁紙fan!)

Gosh, it seems like we’re always featuring a wallpaper of Aya Ueto here at Karakui.com but who’s complaining? For one thing, it’s free and the second thing (wait, do we really need a second reason after free?) is that this is also a nifty 3 month calendar for your Mac/PC’s desktop. So go and grab it! (Via 壁紙fan!)

I totally missed the release on this one but luckily caught their recent performance on Mステ and wow, what a cool song. The title of the song is “Mou Ichido…” by J-rap artist Dohzi-T and Okinawan-American singer Beni Arashiro (going by her first name, BENI, for this ‘featuring’ release). Although “Mou Ichido…” is Dohzi-T’s song, it also happens to be Beni’s first single release for 2008. The single, which has been tearing up the chaku-uta (ringtone) rankings, is currently available at CDJapan.co.jp.

Sorry for the lack of updates this month folks, been busy with the usual and it’s not that there’s a lack of news to blog about as I actually have a bunch of half-baked articles saved as drafts—many of which may or may not ever see the light of day here. (Gosh, that was a long sentence wasn’t it?) As I get back in the swing of things, I’m going to start by doing some light maintenance on the site. Not to worry though, it’ll be done in jiffy. Nifee for sticking with us.

Rising young actress Meisa Kuroki has just made her singing debut in connection with the au Sportio/W62T mobile phones. Her first song is an R&B/dance number called ‘Like This.’ Kuroki will appear in commercials for both phones, and different arrangements of the song will be used for each.

‘Like This’ will see only limited distribution. It became available as a chaku-uta on the 18th, while the full version, the chaku-movie, and the video clip will start selling on the 21st.

(Link: Meisa Kuroki debuts as singer - Tokyograph.)

This’ll probably go down in the “why didn’t we think of this before” category because it’s one thing to have the beautiful Meisa Kuroki in your CM but another (big, huge even ) thing have it be her debut as a singer. Heck, there’s even a post up at Engadget featuring pics of Meisa (although they’re only writing about the new phone—it is a gadget blog after all).

Sony Music has a website up for Meisa over here with a clip of her new PV for “Like This.” Check it out!

Being the izakaya kind of dude that I am, I’m happy to read news of a new restaurant called ‘Off the Wall’ that opened in the Pearl Kai Shopping Center. The restaurant’s executive chef happens to also be one of the most well-known musicians of Okinawan music in Hawaii (and around the globe), Grant “Sandaa” Murata. Here’s an excerpt from Nadine Kam’s Weekly Eater article:

There’s confusion by association because Murata’s known in Okinawan circles as a musician, in addition to his past affiliation with the Okinawan restaurant Hanagasa Inn. There are many old-timers who depend on him for traditional local Okinawan fare, while a younger generation expects a lighter hand, free of oil and extracting the bitterness from bittermelon.

He says he’s feeling the pressure from both factions while also trying to please that other faction of newbies who don’t know a single thing about the restaurant and can’t even guess based on its name.

Off the Wall
98-199 Kamehameha Hwy.
Aiea, Hawaii 96701
808-486-9255

Wow, I think this is a first to have a desktop of a pro-golfer as a desktop. I’m not complaining since it features the talented (and cute) Ai Miyazato and her brothers (also golfers). The ad is for Meiji’s Almond chocolate snack and you’ll find a CM as well as the wallpaper up on the website over here. (Via 壁紙fan!) Enjoy!

Yukie Nakama is joining boy band Arashi as one of the celebrity hosts of NTV’s charity program ‘24 Hour Television,’ taking place on August 30-31. Part of the show will feature her in character as Yankumi from the ‘Gokusen’ drama series, which is currently doing well in the ratings for its third season.

(Link: Yankumi to help save the earth - Tokyograph.)

Speaking of Yankumi and “Gokusen 3,” I’ve been watching the drama and although the underlying story is pretty much the same throughout the series, it’s like I can’t not watch it. I keep telling myself that I know the story already but I still find myself returning to watch the next episode, so what gives? I guess this is my generation’s “Abarenbo Shogun” which is basically the same show: 1) protagonist hides his/her true identity; 2) someone gets into trouble with some bad guys; 3) protagonist reveals his/her true identity; 4) bad guys get their butt kicked.

For me (and the sake of Okinawan pop culture), it’s neat to find Okinawan-references in “Gokusen 3″ which I’m thinking are there because of actress Yukie Nakama. (Check out the screenshots below.)

Season 3 started out with Yankumi in Okinawa teaching at an English school. (Yeah, it didn’t quite work out so this scene shows her [luckily] being asked to return to teach in the mainland.)

Here’s another shot of that same scene. Nice, huh?

This one’s interesting. What’s interesting? OK, stop looking at Yankumi and check out the items on her desk. Yup, you see it now, right? A trio of shisa.