Saturday, March 26, 2005
>> Airi Taira’s ‘Aitai’
Popular idol Airi Taira (20) has released her first photo book (shashinshuu) entitled Aitai. Okinawa was chosen as the location for the photo shoot and the book includes pics of Airi in a swimsuit—the first time she’s being “presented” in this fashion. [Via Yahoo! Japan News] Airi trivia:
- Born: December 12, 1984
- Height: 5’1” (154cm)
- Weight: 93lbs (42kg)
- Bloodtype: O
- Favorite Entertainers: Celine Dion and Namie Amuro
- Favorite Color: pink
- Favorite Sports (to play): jump roap
- Current Hobby: photography
- Specialties: classical ballet, the piano, and Okinawan dance
- Showbiz History: her debut in the film “Dreamaker” (starring ISSA [DA PUMP] and Takako Uehara [SPEED]) came after winning an audition for the role of ISSA’s little sister. She has also released a CD single called “Wish”, and has appeared on a number of TV dramas (including the popular “3-nen B-gumi Kinpachi Sensei” series), films and CMs.
Friday, March 25, 2005
>> Cocco Returns for Good with Singer Songer
My all-time favorite (as opposed to my fave of the moment) female J-Pop singer Cocco must’ve had a blast during her collaboration with Quruli’s Shigeru Kishida because she recently formed a band with him called Singer Songer (Engrish anyone?). The band’s first single, “Hatsuhana Rinrin” (VICL-35816), will be released on May 25th from Speedstar Records (the record label for both artists). There’s also a very short CM (“TV Spot”) of the band’s announcement (at one of Cocco’s concerts?) available on the website although there’s nothing more than Cocco’s dialogue and the listing of each band member’s name. Still, I’m extremely excited about this knowing that it solidifies Cocco’s return to the music scene. Cocco will also be releasing another book of artwork (with photography by nanaco) called “The Bird” (ISBN: 430926832X). The book will also come with a CD of 7 tracks (with track six co-written and performed by Cocco).
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
>> Kiroro + Anime = Theme Song for Mushi King
So, here we thought the lovable female duo known as “Kiroro” would be taking a little hiatus from the J-Pop scene, but they’re back (and so soon)! Kiroro’s “Ikitekoso” (to go on sale July 6th) is set to be the theme song for the anime “Mushi King” from TV Tokyo. This is great news for fans of the duo as their latest single “Kaeru Basho” (VICL-61552, released on 2005.01.21), is/was only being sold in Okinawa. Welcome back Kiroro!
Friday, March 18, 2005
>> Rimi Natsukawa’s Latest Releases
Our favorite female J/O-pop singer, Rimi Natsukawa (who else?), has just released her first collection of singles and her record company (Victor Entertainment) will be releasing a much anticipated live DVD on the 24th of March. Rimi’s single collection is called “Natsukawa Rimi SINGLE COLLECTION Vol.1â€? (ah, the simplicity in naming an album’s title :P) and contains all of her singles from the ridiculously popular “Nada Sou Souâ€? to one of her most recent songs “Kanayo Kanayoâ€? penned by The Boom’s Kazufumi Miyazawa. The collection (VICL-61605) has a total of 14 tracks and is priced at ¥2,800. Now on to the live DVD. “Natsukawa Rimi Concert Tour 2004 ∞ un RIMI ted ∞â€? (VIBL-276) is packed with sixteen songs from her December 17, 2004, concert at the Nakano Sunplaza Hall in Tokyo. Songs included in the live performance are mainly of the O-pop variety but she does include “Asadoya Yuntaâ€? in there too, and the DVD also has her latest single “Kokoro Tsutaeâ€? (2004.12.16) which is not included on the collection of singles album (boo). The live DVD is priced at ¥4,900.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
>> BEGIN’s First Budokan
Congratulations to BEGIN for their first concert at the Budokan! The Budokan is considered to be (i.e. among Japanese music artists) a dream stage and a sign that you’ve really made an impact in the Japanese music culture (another would be performing on NHK’s annual song festival [Kouhaku Uta-Gassen] which the group has already done). [Via Yahoo! Japan News.]
>> Yukie Nakama Flops
If you’re like me and you love Pocky (a Japanese snack), you’ll certainly get a kick out of this CM starring Yukie Nakama where she takes a huge flop and gets you to buy Pocky :p. Link.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
>> Happy 34 (Sanshin) Day!
Well, technically it’s still March 3rd here in Hawaii, but in other parts of the world it’s already March 4th: Sanshin Day! Why? March, the third month of the year, is read as “san” in Japanese and the number four is read as “shin” (actually it’s shi but we’ll celebrate on this day regardless :p). To celebrate this occasion, there’s a gathering of Okinawan musicians the world over and they play “Kagiyadefu Bushi” at the same time via the radio, phone, or internet (I guess). I actually participated here in Hawaii several years ago and it was pretty exciting playing with over 1,000 sanshin players throughout the world.
A commemorative wallpaper (or kabegami in Japanese) for your desktop available here [via シマウタ37.6度].
Here are a bunch of sanshin day related links (in Japanese) to whet your appetite with:
- “2005 Yukaru Hi Masaru Hi Sanshin no Hi” RBC iRadio
- “Sanshin no Hi” i dub okinawa
- “Ryukyu Koten Ongaku” Wonder Okinawa
- “Sanshin no Susume”
- “Sankichi-kun” a fun little sanshin tuning app for your Mac/PC
- www.sansinya.com where you can lust over your first (or next) sanshin
