Saturday, August 06, 2005

>> Terebikko

I meant to announce this a couple of months ago, but if you live in Hawaii there’s a new Japanese-language TV station called Pacific TV that’s been airing an Okinawan variety show from RBC called “Joto TVâ€? (kind of like an Okinawan-style “Soko ga Shiritaiâ€?). The station first began showing a terrific music/dance show (that I would often watch in Okinawa) called “Kariyushi Gekijouâ€? which was replaced by “Joto TVâ€?.

TV Japan (on NGN2 in Hawaii) will be showing an episode of their popular “Top Runner� program featuring Yaeyama utasaa Yasukatsu Oshima on Saturday, July 9.

[posted with ecto]

>> Terebikko

I meant to announce this a couple of months ago, but if you live in Hawaii there’s a new Japanese-language TV station called Pacific TV that’s been airing an Okinawan variety show from RBC called “Joto TVâ€? (kind of like an Okinawan-style “Soko ga Shiritaiâ€?). The station first began showing a terrific music/dance show (that I would often watch in Okinawa) called “Kariyushi Gekijouâ€? which was replaced by “Joto TVâ€?.

TV Japan (on NGN2 in Hawaii) will be showing an episode of their popular “Top Runner� program featuring Yaeyama utasaa Yasukatsu Oshima on Saturday, July 9.

[posted with ecto]

Sunday, April 24, 2005

>> Aya Ueto in Okinawa TV Special

This is old news but considering how often we’ve been blogging lately, any kind of news is better than nothing, right? Actress/singer Aya Ueto (I loved her in the drama “Ace o Nerae!” and the swordplay flick “Azumi”) appeared on a TV special back in February (told you it was old news) called “Okinawa Irodori no Uta”. Aya, her mom is from Yonaguni (raised in Ishigaki), who dressed in a bingata for the show, looked very much like an Okinawan princess. The soon-to-be twenty year old can be seen on TV dramas “Yoshitsune” and “Attack No. 1” and her 11th single, “Yume no Chikara” (PCCA-02132), the ending theme to her volleyball drama “Attack No. 1”, will be released on June 8th.

Monday, February 07, 2005

>> Rimi and Tink Tink on NHK

This month (so far) we have two NHK music specials that will feature Okinawan artists. Coming up on Friday the 18th, Rimi Natsukawa will perform along with a cappella wonder group The Gospellers on “Suteki ni Showtime”. The 45 minute show will air at 5:15 p.m. HST.

We’ll also be in for a treat on Monday the 21st (President’s Day) which is when the über cute O-Pop duo Tink Tink take the stage on the 30 minute show “Yume·Ongakukan”. You may recall that Acoustic Parsha was just on that show late last year with J-Rock singer Hitomi “Yaiko” Yaida. “Yume” will air at 3:30 p.m. HST.

Speaking of Tink Tink, did you know that they’ve just (2/2/05) released their first major label single entitled “Taisetsu na Hito/Hitohabune”? The maxi-single, from Avex, is the ending theme for the TBS variety show “Hanamaru Market”.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

>> Yukie Nakama’s a Beautiful Older Sister Now

On her way to superstardom, Yukie Nakama (25) has been chosen to be Matsushita Electronics’ (the National brand) 5G (that’s fifth generation for those not in the know) “Kirei na Onêsan”. Her first CM (commercial) is set to air in mid-March for a product called “Soie” (taken from katakana so the actual product name in English may be different). Yukie follows these “Kirei na Onêsan” actresses: Maki Mizuno, Nanako Matsushima, Nana Katase and Miki Nakatani. What do they have in common? Save for Nana Katase, all women exude a quiet elegance that Yukie definitely possesses. (Katase is more the bright, cheerful type in case you were wondering.) Way to go Yukie!

Monday, January 17, 2005

>> Yukie Nakama Brings in the Crowd

Continuing with her big new year’s splashes (rather smashes) is Yukie Nakama’s (25) latest TV drama (or dorama) offering: “Gokusen” (9pm Saturdays, NTV). Yukie returns as Kumiko Yamaguchi in this Kozueko Morimoto created manga with the first episode (aired 1/15) garnering a viewership of 26%! Her drama’s first episode beat out NHK Taiga drama’s “Yoshitsune” (which, btw, is looking very good) at 24%. Here’s an additional bit of trivia for you: the theme song for “Gokusen”, “NO MORE CRY” (on sale 2/2 from Pony Canyon), is by the Okinawan soul duo D-51. Way to go Yukie and D-51! I hope this is the vehicle that pushes D-51 into the top of the Oricon hit charts!

Saturday, December 11, 2004

>> ORANGE RANGE Picks Kadena

Popular J-Pop group ORANGE RANGE announced today that for their first appearance on NHK’s Kouhaku Utagassen, they plan to do it via an Okinawa location (the venue for the show is in Tokyo). If the plan goes through, the band will be performing on a special stage setup near Kadena Air Force Base which happens to be the hometown (i.e. Kadena and not the base) of my mum. Way to go guys and I hope you pull it off!

Sunday, November 28, 2004

>> Missing: Namie Amuro and DA PUMP

Here’s this year’s list of performers for NHK’s annual song battle. The Red and White teams are tied with 27 wins a piece. I think the edge goes to the White (male performers and Kenichi Mikawa :P) because Ryu will sway all of the female voters. Also, and perhaps not surprisingly, Utada is not on this year’s list and top performers from last year’s fest, SMAP and Namie Amuro, will also not be performing this year.

I’m looking forward to the performances from two K-Pop singers: Lee Jung Hyun and Ryu, as well as Okinawan artists Rimi Natsukawa and ORANGE RANGE. I’m betting that the show stopper will be Ken Matsudaira’s “Matusken Samba”.

For the list, I’ve also included a link to each artists’ website too. Enjoy! (Btw, if time permits, I may create a checklist that you can use on that day to keep track of the performers. Or, if you know someone who does let me know and I’ll link to them.)

[Update: Thank you to Nanami for notifying me about a last minute change in NHK’s list of performers. Nochiura Natsumi has been replaced by Maki Goto · Aya Matsuura (2/3 of the group) and Hitomi Shimatani has also been added to the list.]

Red Team (Aka Gumi) Female Artists:
number of appearances in parenthesis
aiko (3) J-Pop
Sayuri Ishikawa (27) Enka
Lee Jung Hyun (1) K-Pop
Aya Ueto (1) J-Pop
Every Little Thing (8) J-Pop
Ai Otsuka (1) J-Pop
Miyuki Kawanaka (17) Enka
Mai Kuraki (2) J-Pop
Sachiko Kobayashi (26) Enka
Fuyumi Sakamoto (16) Enka
Chiyoko Shimakura (35) Enka
[new] Hitomi Shimatani (3) J-Pop
Yoshimi Tendo (9) Enka
DREAMS COME TRUE (9) J-Pop
Mika Nakashima (3) J-Pop
Mitsuko Nakamura (11) Enka
Yoko Nagayama (11) Enka
Rimi Natsukawa (3) J-Pop/Okinawan Pop
Nochiura Natsumi (Alumni of MoMu. [Morning Musume.]: Natsumi Abe [natsumi], Maki Goto [kanji character for “go” can be read as “nochi”] and Aya Matsuura [ura]) (1) J-Pop
[new] Maki Goto · Aya Matsuura (see above for links) (1) J-Pop
Ayumi Hamasaki (6) J-Pop
Yo Hitoto (2) J-Pop
Ayaka Hirahara (1) J-Pop
Ayako Fuji (13) Enka
BoA (3) J-Pop
Kaori Mizumori (2) Enka
Morning Musume. (7) J-Pop
W (Current members of MoMu.: Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji) (1) J-Pop
Ryoko Moriyama (9) Adult Contemporary
Akiko Wada (28) Adult Contemporary

White Team (Shiro Gumi) Male Artists:
Hiroshi Itsuki (34) Enka
w-inds. (3) J-Pop
EXILE (2) J-Pop
ORANGE RANGE (1) J-Pop
Gackt (4) J-Pop
Kyogo Kawaguchi (1) J-Pop
Kishidan (1) J-Pop
Saburo Kitajima (41) Enka
CHEMISTRY (4) J-Pop
Gospellers, The (4) J-Pop
Masashi Sada (4) Adult Contemporary
John Ken Nuzzo (2) Opera
TOKIO (11) J-Pop
Ichiro Toba (17) Enka
nobodyknows+ (1) J-Pop
Kiyoshi Hikawa (5) Enka
Ken Hirai (4) J-Pop
Akira Fuse (20) Adult Contemporary
Takashi Hosokawa (30) Enka
Takao Horiuchi (16) Adult Contemporary
Pornograffitti (3) J-Pop
Kiyoshi Maekawa (14) Enka
Ken Matsudaira (1) Adult Contemporary
Kenichi Mikawa (21) Adult Contemporary
Shinichi Mori (37) Enka
George Yamamoto (13) Enka
Yuzu (2) J-Pop
Ryu (1) K-Pop

Friday, October 29, 2004

>> 55th Annual Red and White Song Festival

Congratulations to ORANGE RANGE who will be making their Kouhaku (NHK’s annual song festival [battle]) debut at the end of the year. Rimi Natsukawa will also appear this year and will more than likely sing the song “Kana yo Kana yo”, written by J-pop artist Kazufumi Miyazawa, lead vocalist of THE BOOM.

Sunday, October 03, 2004

>> Samurai Champloo

My coworker lent me an anime that I’ve been dying to see called “Samurai Champloo”. Although it only contained two episodes (it’s already past fifteen), it was enough to lure me into the world of Mugen, Fuu and Jin. Of course, it was the title of the anime (i.e., the word ‘Champloo’) that caught my eye several months ago when it was still in production (by Manglobe Inc.).

As you can see from the image above, it’s a jidaigeki (or chambara) anime that at first, seems to have nothing in common with Okinawa other than the inclusion of the Okinawan word champloo (or champuru) and more in common with themes found in anime like “Rurouni Kenshin” or “Samurai 7”. But after reading the character bio for Mugen (he’s the tan samurai in the above image) on the “Samurai Champloo” character page, you find that he was born “on an island in the Ryukyus”. How’s that for cool?

The style (hip hop music, graffiti titles, excellent character design) of “Samurai Champloo” is so slick that it’ll surely make its was into the States for distribution. According to the AnimeNfo.Com website, the series is currently available as a fan sub in the U.S.

Sunday, September 26, 2004

>> Forever Churasan

Actress (singer, gravure idol) KUNINAKA Ryoko (25) reprises her role as KUNINAKA Eri (or ‘Erii’) from the hit NHK morning drama serial “Churasan”. The current 5-episode “Churasan 3” is being shown during NHK’s Monday Drama Series time slot with the first episode of that series garnering a viewership of 14.4% — a record.

The “Churasan” series is considered Kuninaka’s ‘life work’ and she has been quoted as saying that she wants to keep the feeling she had when filming first began for the series which aired in Japan from April 2001.

All of this would not have been possible without the large fan base of “Churasan” who voted the series number one for NHK’s “My request for the program I want to see one more time” (my translation) this year. Also, the supporting cast of “Churasan” (who also continue to take part in the continuing series) create a very warm atmosphere which adds to the real star of the show and perhaps the least mentioned, its location and theme: Okinawa. This may also be the reason that “Churasan” has been compared to another successful (and long-running) drama, “Kita no Kuni kara” which besides having as strong a cast as “Churasan”, featured Hokkaido as its backdrop.

[Yahoo! Japan]

Extra “Churasan” Facts:
The original series aired from April 2, 2001 and was comprised of 144 episodes with an average viewership of 22.2%. The theme song for the series was Kiroro’s “Best Friend”. The second series, “Churasan 2”, had a March 31, 2003 start date and was made up of six episodes with an average viewership of 11.8%. In addition to an opening theme song (“Ryukyu Moon”), an ending theme song (“Tooku de…”) was also added — both sung by Ryoko and written by O-pop recording artist MIYAGI Mamoru. The current series (simply titled “Churasan 3”) began airing on September 13 of this year and will have a total of five episodes. Kiroro’s “Best Friend” has been brought back as the opening theme song with the ending theme song, “Meguri Aeta ne”, sung by Ryoko. Ryoko will be releasing a DVD on November 17th called “Otokeshiki” which will include three PVs (Promotion Video) as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the PVs and private footage.

Cast members for “Churasan 3”:
UEMURA Eri (formerly KOHAGURA Eri): KUNINAKA Ryouko
UEMURA Fumiya: KOHASHI Kenji
UEMURA Kazuya: SUZUKI Shougo
UEMURA Shizuko: MAYA Kyouko
KOHAGURA Keibun: SAKAI Masaaki
KOHAGURA Katsuko: TANAKA Yoshiko
KOHAGURA Hana ‘Obaa’: TAIRA Tomi
KOHAGURA Keishou: Gori (from the comedy duo GARAGE SALE)
KOHAGURA Nanako: SATOU Aiko
KOHAGURA Keitatsu: YAMADA Takayuki
KOHAGURA Shouko: YAMAGUCHI Ayumi
SHIBATA Kouzou: MURATA Takehiro
SHIBATA Youko: YO Kimiko
SHIMADA Daishin: KITAMURA Kazuo
SHIMADA Mizue: TAN’AMI Yatsuko
JOUNOUCHI Maria: KANNO Miho
NISHINOMIYA Haruka: KONISHI Manami
SHIMABUKURO Shouichi: KAWATA Hiroki (from the comdey duo GARAGE SALE)
YONABARU Makoto: MIYARA Shinobu (from the J-hip hop group DA PUMP)
SHIMOYANAGI Satoko: TODA Keiko
KANESHIRO Masahide: FUJIKI Hayato
TSUJIUCHI Mihoko: OKUNUKI Kaoru (new cast member)
TSUJIUCHI Aiko: TSURUOKA Moeki (new cast member)

In the past series, Nana (TAKUSHI Nanako) from MAX had a recurring role as Yugafu’s waitress and the members of BEGIN were also featured in a few episodes. Also starring in what seems like a very limited role (as such her name was not mentioned in the regular cast) is MAEHARA Eri (who is the significant other of YONABARU Makoto and Eri’s best friend from Okinawa).

Sites of Interest:
Official NHK Monday 9 Website for “Churasan 3” (will only be online for the length of the drama).
(They’re offering a Goya-Man screensaver on their site for Windows and Mac OS 8 to OS X.)
Official NHK “Churasan 2” Archive Website.
An English fan site for Churasan, Kiroro and Ryoko Kuninaka: http://churasan.mkbmemorial.com/.

Related Entries:
Churasan 3 to Begin Airing From September 13th
Churasan 3 Coming in October
Churasan 2 to Air on NGN
Kuninaka Ryoko CD Single Debut
A Closer Look: Ryukyu Hime
Uchina Pop Culture: 05.09.2001

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).

Thursday, January 01, 2004

>> Churasan 2 to Air on NGN

Fans of “Churasan” rejoice! English-subtitled episodes of “Churasan 2” (six episodes) will begin airing on NGN (Nippon Golden Network) every Saturday at 8:30 pm. The first episode will air on Saturday, January 3rd and the cast is the same we’ve grown to love from the first series — look out for Nana (MAX) who is the waitress in the Okinawan diner. The theme song for the drama is by Ryouko Kuninaka (who plays the heroine Eri in this drama) and called “Ryûkyû Moon” (the song is written by O-pop artist Mamoru Miyagi).

Saturday, September 27, 2003

>> Uehara Takako to star in NHK’s new asadora

Uehara Takako (SPEED) will play the role of Natsuko in NHK’s latest morning drama serial “Teru Teru Kazoku” (takes the place of “Kokoro”). The story is set in Osaka where the Kishida family runs a bakery. They are blessed with four daughters who are named after the four seasons. The heroine of this asadora is Ishihara Satomi (16) who plays the youngest of the four sisters, Fuyuko. This segment of NHK’s asadora series (the 69th) looks to be a very fun one to watch with the producers of the drama liking it to a musical. Will we see Takako singing and dancing? You betcha! Although it’s a supporting role, she may have a lot of air time as Natsuko’s (her character) dream is to be a top singer in Japan. The show will begin airing in Japan on Monday, September 29th.

Sunday, June 29, 2003

>> Yukie Nakama’s Kao

NGN (Nippon Golden Network) will begin airing Yukie Nakama’s drama, “Kao” (Fuji TV), from Saturday, July 19th. The first episode is a special one hour episode and the entire series is made up of 11 episodes. Yukie plays the role of Mizuho Hirano, a talented police sketch artist. This police drama which began airing in Japan from April 15th, also stars Joe Odagiri (as her love interest), Kimiko Yo (of “Churasan” 1 & 2 and “Ogya”), Ritsuko Tanaka, and Kotomi Kyouno. The theme song entitled “Kimi ga Anata ga” is sung by Nao (Avex).

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

>> What’s on in May/June?

With only a few days left in May, you can still catch the rerun of “NIght Hospital” (TV Japan, Episode 8 of 10), starring Yukie Nakama in the lead role on Wednesday, May 29th at 7:17 pm HST. The new episode airs on Saturday, May 31st at 4:10 pm HST. You can also catch her on the English-subtitled rebroadcast of NHK Taiga Drama’s “Musashi” before that (also on TV Japan) at 11:15 am HST (the show airs every Saturday).

In June we can see even more of Yukie in “Musashi” every Sunday at 2:00 pm HST on TV Japan (the show is rebroadcasted later in the evening at 7:15 pm). “Musashi” also airs on KIKU TV (Hawaii) every Tuesday at 8:00 pm HST and is rebroadcasted Sundays at 7:00 pm (note: the KIKU TV shows are English-subtitled but about three months behind the TV Japan broadcast schedule). TV Japan will also be airing the final episode of “Night Hospital” on Saturday, June 7th at 4:10 pm.

Other shows to look forward to on TV Japan are:

• “Kinyou Show Time: Okinawa no Ongaku wa Suteki sa!” which airs on Friday the 13th (yikes!) at 4:00 pm HST with a rerun airing at 10:15 pm.
• “BS Junior Nodo JIman” which airs on Sunday, June 29th at 11:00 am HST. The J-pop guest for this show from Saitama Prefecture is Takako Uehara.

That’s it for now!

>> Rina Chinen in “Kochira Hon-Ikegami-Sho”

J-pop singer and actress, Rina Chinen can be seen in the drama “Kochira Hon-Ikegami-Sho” on NGN TV every Tuesday nights at 8:30. Rina stars as a police office clerk (OL or Office Lady) in this lighthearted drama.


The drama began airing in Japan from April 14th on TBS and other cast members include: Yuriko Hoshi, Masanobu Takashima, Maki Mizuno, Ken Kaneko, and Ai Kago (from the J-pop group Morning Musume).

Sunday, April 27, 2003

>> Fan of karaoke?

Love karaoke? NHK’s “Nodo Jiman” is the show for you. It’s been made into a movie, and has broadcast shows from San Francisco and Hawaii. What is it really? It’s a karaoke contest that’s also a traveling show and a mini-concert since there are two big name guest singers who co-host the show with the ageless announcer Miyakawa-san. Today’s show will take place in Ishigaki City, Okinawa, and the guest singer you’ll want to pay attention to is Natsukawa Rimi — perhaps the most searched (Okinawa born) singer on the web today. Also appearing in the show is folk singer Minami Kousetsu. The show will air in the US via TV Japan — don’t miss it!

Friday, March 28, 2003

>> What’s on in April?

April 1 (Tue.) KIKU TV (Hawaii) will begin airing NHK Taiga Drama’s “Musashi” which stars Nakama Yukie, in a dual role. This very exciting drama series (complete with English subtitles) will be shown every Tuesday from 8 pm to 9 pm. There will also be a rebroadcast of the show every Sunday from 7 pm to 7:55 pm. This samurai drama is scheduled to run for about a year. The drama also airs on TV Japan every Sunday at 3:15 pm to 4 pm (with a rerun later in the evening) and is on par with the show’s schedule in Japan which began airing it from January 5.

April 5 (Sat.) TV Japan will begin airing Nakama Yukie’s drama “Night Hospital - Byouki wa Nemuranai” every Saturday (show time unavailable at this time). Ten episodes with no English subtitles.

April 7 (Mon.) TV Japan will also be airing “Churasan 2” (NHK’s Getsuyoubi [Monday] Drama Series) every Monday (show time unavailable at this time). Six episodes with no English subtitles. It’s worth checking out NHK’s site where you can download (1024 x 768 only) two different desktops of Goyâ Man with Goyâ Girl (?). No word yet if NGN (Nippon Golden Network) will pick this one up but it’s almost a sure bet with their “Okinawan Primetime” segment of shows.

April 12 (Sat.) KIKU TV will rebroadcast the “Okinawa Minyou Kouhaku” from 7 pm to 9:30 pm.

>> What’s on in March?

KIKU TV (Hawaii) will be airing the Okinawa Minyou Kouhaku on March 29th from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm.

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