3rd Eisa Drum Festival at Kapi’olani Community College on May 11th A Celebration of Okinawan Culture with Drums, Lions, Music, and Karate Kapi’olani Community College and the Office of Student Activities are pleased to present the third Eisa Drum Festival on Saturday, May 11 from 5:30 to 9 pm, on the Great Lawn (center of … Continue reading »
Filed under Okinawa …
Event: Special Eisa Concert: Naha Daiko & Chinagu Eisa Hawaii with Singer Ikeda Suguru
Chinagu Eisa Hawaii is a local eisa drum group that I have been a fan of for some time. They perform a contemporary style of eisa. The symbol of the group is the kanji “kizuna,” which means strong emotional bonds. For the group, it represents the connection between generations of drummers, between Okinawa and Hawaii, … Continue reading »
Video: Churasa performs ‘Why why?’ at Chatan Jusco
Myron has new video up on his YouTube channel of performances by eisa group Churasa at Jusco (love that the URL is ‘aeon-ryukyu’) department store in Chatan. Cool stuff. See photos of the group shot by Myron on Flickr.
Event: Suruti Chibarana -Striving Together-
Maui Okinawa Taiko and Jimpu Kai Maui will have a joint anniversary recital on Sunday, 24 June 2012, at the Baldwin High School Auditorium. The recital, which starts at 2:00pm, celebrates Maui Okinawa Taiko’s 15th anniversary and Jimpu Kai Maui’s 10th anniversary. Tickets are $12.00 for general admission and $10.00 for seniors 55 and over … Continue reading »
Event: Okinawa Association of America’s Annual Picnic
Joseph Kamiya: Every year, the organization hosts a picnic in South El Monte, California. We feature live entertainment (sanshin, taiko, odori, martial arts, hula, etc.), games and festivities for children, bento boxes, free shaved ice, great raffle prizes, and our big Bon Dance finale! We also award a few high school students with our annual … Continue reading »
Speaking of Hip-Hop Music from Okinawa
Here’s a new Okinawa hip-hop, rather Ryukyu hip-hop music, album (B-LUNCH 沖縄HIPHOP MIX CD) mixed by DJ KENTA and released on Lunch Boxxx Records. Pretty interesting stuff.
Ryu-Unit, New Jap Swing
I’ve been wondering what happened to the original members of DA PUMP after KEN left in 2009. I saw Shinobu’s Okinawan Pop group in Tokyo back in 2009, ISSA recently starred in the “Ryujin Mabuyer” film, and now I know what’s happened to the other two members. KEN and YUKINARI formed an all-Okinawan hip-hop trio … Continue reading »
OZ excites!
OZ (オズ) is an upcoming 4-piece rock band from Okinawa with a female lead vocalist. It’s a bit difficult to find their stuff on the Web since there’s another artist from Japan with the same name (go figure?) so here are links to their websites: Official Website, Record Label Website (Nayutawave Records, Universal Music Japan), … Continue reading »
Ryukyu Golden Kings capture the Western Conference season title!
The Ryukyu Golden Kings captured the Western Conference’s regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for the playoffs on Saturday, clobbering the host Miyazaki Shining Suns 113-82. Ryukyu (33-16) holds a two-game lead over the second-place Osaka Evessa entering the final day of the regular season. (Via The Japan Times Online.)
Okinawa’s Tokusatsu Hero: Ryujin Mabuyer
“Ryujin Mabuyer (琉神マブヤー)” is a Tokusatsu TV series made in Okinawa. The 13-episode series aired in 2008 from October 4th to December 27th. The series will be made into a movie titled, Ryuujin Mabuyaa THE MOVIE Nanatsu no Mabui (琉神マブヤー THE MOVIE 七つのマブイ),” and star Shintaro Yamada as Ryujin Mabuyer and ISSA (from DA PUMP) … Continue reading »