Thursday, July 01, 2004

>> Guess Who’s Coming to Honolulu?

Nifee to Isaac Hokama who let us in on the latest scoop regarding this year’s Okinawan Festival (September 4th and 5th) — BEGIN, yes, that BEGIN, will be performing for us this year! Isaac recently visited Okinawa to meet the group (hence the above pic) and he so graciously emailed us with a few pics of the group. (The pic below is of Isaac and Dazz [who is the current kenpi recipient representing Hawaii].)
I’ll post more as the date draws nearer, but needless to say, I’m totally stoked about this news.

Monday, May 10, 2004

>> Lorraine Kaneshiro Cultural Benefit

The HUOA (Hawaii United Okinawa Association) will be holding a cultural benefit for the late Lorraine Kaneshiro on Sunday, May 23, 2004, from 10:30am to 2pm at the HOC (Hawaii Okinawa Center). For more information (as well as where to buy your tickets) please visit the HUOA website or call the center at 808-676-5400.

[View the flier—Adobe PDF 1.59 MB]

Sunday, September 21, 2003

>> An afternoon of fine Ryukyuan music at the 2003 Godo Ensou Kai

Join the Hawaii chapters of Nomura Ryu Ongaku Kyokai and Ryukyu Sokyoku Koyo Kai for an afternoon of fine Ryukyuan music at 2003 Godo Ensou Kai on Sunday, October 12, 2003 at Natsunoya Tea House. The program will open at 3:00 p.m. with a large ensemble performing classical Okinawan music.

Member schools will showcase their students in solo and small ensemble performances. There will be a ceremony recognizing achievement in sanshin and koto performance; including presentation of shihan menkyo jo (senior teacher’s certificate) to Yasuko Arakawa and kyoshi menkyo jo (junior teacher’s certificate) to Sueko Okuma. The event will conclude with a buffet dinner served at 6:30 p.m. followed by Okinawan dance entertainment provided by members and friends. The cost is $30.00; full-time students pay $15.00.

Please email me if you’re interested and I’ll send you the contact information.

Saturday, September 13, 2003

>> Miruku Yu Nu Nauri (Blossoming Petals of Peace)

The Tamagusuku Ryu Senju Kai Frances Nakachi Ryubu Dojo will be holding a dance recital on Sunday, November 2, 3:00 pm at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center’s Concert Hall. The cost of admission is US $20 and a limited amount of tickets are being sold through this website. If interested, I’m accepting payment by check or via PayPal and early takers will be given a discount of US $2 off the admission price. [Email for more info]

[Update: Thanks to one of Nakachi Sensei’s students (nifee ft!) who pointed out my misspelling of her sensei’s name as Francis instead of the correct Frances. Oops!]

Sunday, July 13, 2003

>> Update to my entry on the First Worldwide Uchinanchu Conference in Honolulu

I recently received a yuntaku (comment) for this earlier entry from Dawn, who asked me to check out her site, www.Uchinanchu.com. My earlier entry contained nothing more than a few links (to her site as well as two others), so this is a much needed update.

The First Worldwide Uchinanchu Conference will be held in Honolulu from Friday, August 29th, to Tuesday, September 2nd.

Here’s an excerpt from the www.Uchinanchu.com website:

Aloha! Building on the success of three worldwide Uchinanchu Festivals or Taikai in Okinawa in 1990, 1995 & 2001, Hawaii welcomes uchinanchu and uchinanchu-at-heart from around the world to a mini festival - the First Worldwide Uchinanchu Conference.

Since this is an Okinawan pop culture site, of particular interest is the Closing Ceremony International Eisa Festival on Tuesday, September 2nd, at 6:00 pm. Performing on that day will be the most popular O-pop band in Japan, Rinken Band. The concert will take place during the finale of this event and will be held at the Les Murakami Stadium, located on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

For more information regarding this awesome event, please check out the www.Uchinanchu.com website. They even have a section for travel and accommodations for our mainland and international visitors.

Thursday, June 12, 2003

>> Update 061203: OMG (Okinawan Music Geeks)

It’s settled. By popular demand (thanks to those who emailed me about this) the name “O.M.G.” will remain as it is and it won’t be changed to OMF (Okinawan Music Fans/Fanatics). We’re still looking for new members so if you’re interested in joining us (more info on our Okinawan music fan group can be found on this post) you can email me at riccin@internet-okinawa.com or leave a Yuntaku (comment) below. I’m looking to have the first email newsletter sent to everyone by the end of the month. It’ll probably be a questionnaire to gather info on what music genre you’re interested in and what you may be able to contribute to the club.

As always, if you have any suggestions, don’t hesitate to let me know. Oh, and from now on, I’ll have a separate category for the club so my past posts will be easier to find on this pop blog. Tege!

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

>> Okinawan Music Geeks (O.M.G.)

Okay, that (“O.M.G.”) name is not etched in stone yet, but it’s a start. I’m starting an Okinawan music listeners (lovers) club so I’m looking for the all-important “CLUB MEMBERS” in order to make this thing work.

What will the O.M.G. do? Well, for starters, I want this to be a way that extreme lovers of Okinawan music of all genres can get together (in real life) to share music stories, trade music, listen to music, and perhaps go on a tour to minyou clubs and/or J/O-pop concerts in Okinawa.

Who should join the O.M.G. club? Anyone with an interest in Okinawan music who actually owns LPs, cassettes, CDs, videos, or DVDs of any genre of Okinawan music. How can you join O.M.G.? You can either 1) email me or 2) leave a Yuntaku (comment) on this post (it automatically gets emailed to me). Or better yet, if you know me in real life, give me a call.

Monday, May 19, 2003

>> 2003 Okinawa T-Shirt Design Contest

Team i-O member Travis has an Okinawa t-shirt design contest up at his site. Ever wanted your Okinawan design on a t-shirt to be sold worldwide? He’s even offering prizes for the winning designs too so check it out!

Tuesday, May 06, 2003

>> Okinawa Music Jukebox

i-O team member and logo designer, Travis Morgan, has an Okinawa Music Jukebox up on his weblog site. If you’re interested in listening to some cool O-Pop (Okinawan Pop Music) tunes, you need look no further. His weblog also has a lot of interesting entries on Okinawa.

Sunday, May 04, 2003

>> Q and A from Friday’s yuntaku

[note: the Q & A for this entry are from my recent yuntaku at Hawaii’s Plantation Village.]

After allowing myself some time to think about which questions to post to this weblog, I’ve decided on the music-related ones of which I’m most familiar with. I’ll be more than happy to answer any other questions you may have so feel free to email me.

Q: What instruments are in an Okinawan ensemble?

A: For a koten ongaku (classical music) ensemble, a “full” cast would consist of at least one of each of these instruments:

Sanshin (banjo): The most essential instrument of Okinawan music. Called shamisen in Japanese, it has three strings or chiru (the word ‘sanshin’ means ‘3 strings’), and a body or chîga made from python skin.
Kutû (zither): This instrument called koto in Japanese, has thirteen strings and is the largest of the ensemble.
Têku (drum): This instrument is actually a pair of drums, called taiko in Japanese, with a large one placed vertically and a smaller one placed horizontally.
Kûchô (fiddle): This is basically a “mini-me” version of the sanshin although it may have an added fourth or fifth string to it. When played with the ensemble, the instrument (called kokyû in Japanese) in most cases will follow the main melody which is being sung by the uta-sanshin (voice or song with sanshin) player.
Fansô (bamboo flute): Called hanshou in Japanese, like the kûchô this instrument in most cases will follow the main melody that’s being sung by the uta-sanshin player.

In minyou, or folk music, it’s possible to have the above instruments as well as Western instruments like a violin, piano, or a guitar. For the most part, minyou is kept acoustic with the norm being a combo of sanshin and têku.

Q: What’s the difference between the Okinawan sanshin and the Japanese shamisen?

A: The Okinawan sanshin is the origin of the Japanese shamisen. The sanshin we see today is actually a modified version of the original instrument (called sanxian) which arrived in Okinawa from China in the 14th century. The major differences between the sanshin and the shamisen are:

The sanshin body is covered with snakeskin and is circular in shape, while the shamisen body is covered with cat skin and is rectangular in shape. The sanshin is smaller in length than the shamisen. The plectrum, or bachi, used for the sanshin resembles a comma-shape while the one used for the shamisen is shaped like a rice paddle.

To be continued…

Friday, May 02, 2003

>> Visitor from Hawaii’s Plantation Village?

If you’re a visitor to the site who was part of today’s yuntaku (talk story) with me, haisai (hello)! I had a lot of fun today (although I was quite nervous) and I thank you for your gracious hospitality. The spirit of aloha is definitely alive at Hawaii’s Plantation Village.

As promised, I’ll have some of the questions (with answers) posted on my pop site by Sunday at the latest. Once again, thank you for visiting and keep in touch with me by email or by leaving a comment (called “Yuntaku”) on this entry. Nifee (thanks)!

Sunday, April 27, 2003

>> Nidaime Teishinkai Hawaii Shibu performs at the 2003 Spring Craft Fair

The minyou group that I’m a member of, Nidaime Teishinkai Hawaii Shibu, performed at the 2003 Spring Craft Fair at the Hawaii Okinawa Center this past Saturday. We performed a 30 min. set for this yearly event.


Also performing with us were Scott N and Sara N who along with Lisa (they’re all members of Miyashiro Soho Kai) took turns on kutû, and Nona M on têku who is a member of Hawaii Taiko Kai.

Thursday, April 24, 2003

>> First Worldwide Uchinanchu Conference

We’ve been receiving quite a bit of inquires about this upcoming conference so I’m going to go ahead and post some links to sites of interest. (I’ll post more about it later as I’m still gathering a little more info on this one myself.)

• East-West Center: News & Events (nifee to Professor Vincent Pollard for the link).
• HUOA.org (the Hawaii United Okinawan Association’s site.)
• WUB - International (the Worldwide Uchinanchu Business Association’s site and one of the conference’s main sponsers.)

[Update: This entry has been updated. Please check out my latest post for more info.]

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

>> Ukwanshin Kabudan

Champuru.com has a “Backstage Pass” of the Okinawan performing troupe Ukwanshin Kabudan’s recent performance in Maui. Although the troupe’s been around for several years, they did not have an “official” name and they would instead list the different schools each member belonged to. This is definitely one of the groups you’ll want to keep your eye on in the coming months. Karii (cheers) to Ukwanshin Kabudan!