Thursday, April 29, 2004

>> More Details on YUKINARI’s Marriage

A bit more info regarding YUKINARI’s (25) marriage made it in today’s news wire. It seems that his wife, Miho Kobayashi (21, her stage name was Natsu Nishida), is six months pregnant and that he has vowed to show a strong performance as a new father for DA PUMP’s upcoming single, “GET ON THE DANCE FLOOR” (to be released in Japan on 5/12) and their Summer tour which begins in July. Natsu Nishida was a gravure idol and she also tried her hand at womens pro wrestling before retiring in April of last year.

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

>> YUKINARI Getto!

Congratulations to YUKINARI (Yukinari Tamaki, 25) of the popular dance group DA PUMP, who got married to ex-talento Miho Kobayashi (21)!

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

>> Churasan 3 Coming in October

One of the top rated (or rather the most requested) shows for NHK’s morning drama serial series (asadora) is “Churasan” (64th in the continuing asadora series). The drama aired in Japan from April 2, 2001 to September 29, 2001, and garnered enough fan support to spark a 6-part sequel in March of 2003. Part 3 will be much like the shorter sequel and run for five episodes beginning in October 2004. More information can be found on the NHK drama site (in Japanese).

>> Two Masters, One Disc

(Beginning with this post, I’ll be writing about new releases and pre-releases in all genres of music from Okinawan artists. Okay, so a few of these releases won’t actually be “new” ones, but they’re all from the beginning of the year [yeah, I’m making up for lost time].)

A fantastic (nope, haven’t heard it yet but it’ll wind up in my collection very soon) album that was released today in Japan features two of my favorite utasha: Seijin Noborikawa & Sadao China (pronouned Chee-na) and is simply titled “Noborikawa Seijin & China Sadao” (Respect Records, RES-79 ¥3,150). The album contains 15 tracks (makes use of most of the disc by clocking in around a total 70 minutes) and for a limited time, if you find yourself at the right music store, you’ll also get yourself a free patch (two different ones). But wait, there’s more as Respect Records is also offering a t-shirt to commemorate the album’s release. Wow! (Can’t recall the last time there was this much of a commotion for an Okinawan minyou album release.) If I can When I get the DotW (or to remind everyone that it means “Discography of the Week” since it’s been so long) going again, I’ll have more info on this album.

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

>> Site Tweaks for April 2004

Sorry for posting nothing but “Site News” lately. m(__)m

I’ll be tinkering with the site for a week or so and hopefully (i.e., hopefully) have a new entry or two up too. Nifee to all of you who have stuck around during my absence from these pages. I’ll try to make it up to you as soon as May kicks in.