Yummy chuuhai (or ‘chu-hai’) drinks from Suntory’s Okinawa Series are here with two new flavors appearing on June 20: papaya and passion fruit. (Other flavors are mango, pineapple, shiikwaasaa & tankan.) Be sure to check out the “Special Contents” page which has two kabegami (wallpaper) up to download as well as an “Okinawa Kotoba (vocabulary in this context) Collection”. [Via 壁紙fan!]
Archive for June, 2006
Starting from 6/14 and ending on 7/31, Tower Records Japan and Respect Record have teamed up with a campaign called the “Haisai Okinawa Fair” which will feature albums from the record label at 10% off! Respect Record (yeah, I know it [Record] sounds weird) has been one of the best labels in their release of Okinawan music—both old and new. I found it interesting that there wasn’t any store listing so I’m assuming that the campaign will run throughout Japan. Of course, the Naha store (located on Naha OPA’s 6th Floor) is a given, right? 
One question that I get asked a lot is where to buy Okinawan music. For the purpose of this post, with many of Karakui’s readers residing in different countries, I’ll focus on online shopping and in a future post I’ll write about my favorite music stores in Okinawa. I’ll also only be recommending stores that I’ve ordered from in the past. So read on! (Note: Stores are listed in alpha-order and not by a rating system. Internet-Okinawa.com was not sponsored by the following stores.)
Store: Amazon.co.jp
Stock: J-Pop, major label albums for artists of other genres
Navigation: Japanese (if you’ve used Amazon.com, navigating the site shouldn’t be much of a problem though)
Shipping: High (recommended that you order with a group of people to save on shipping costs)
Notes: I’d recommend this site more towards books and/or DVDs with CDs as an addition to your order. You’ll find the J-Pop artist you’re looking for but it’s a rarity to find any Okinawa-based indie record label artist at the store.
Store: CD Japan
Stock: J-Pop, major and indie label albums for artists of other genres
Navigation: English/Japanese
Shipping: Moderate to high depending on the shipping option you choose.
Notes: One of the best online stores out there. They have a frequent buyer rewards program, shipping options, and a pretty good selection of artists.
Store: iTunes (US)
Stock: Mixture of major and indie label J/O-Pop artists
Navigation: Available in several countries/langauges
Shipping: Free (songs are downloaded to your Mac/PC)
Notes: Buying from the store will require that you download the software. Read my entry entitled “List of Artists Available at the US iTMS” for more info.
Store: Tower Records Japan (aka @TOWER.JP)
Stock: Has the best selection of Okinawan music of the stores that are listed on this post. Looking for that popular debut album from UEMA Ayano? You’ll find it here.
Navigation: Mostly in Japanese with a few pointers to help you along the way in English (you can also search for artists in romaji—a definite plus)
Shipping: High (recommended that you order with a group of people to save on shipping costs)
Notes: If you’re looking for albums that can normally be found from a shop in Okinawa, @TOWER.JP is your best bet. I think of them as the pioneer when it comes to supporting indie labels and they do have a brick-and-mortar store in Naha which makes it a bit easier for them to transfer stock back to the mainland to be shipped worldwide.
Store: YesAsia.com
Stock: J-Pop, major label albums for artists of other genres
Navigation: English/Japanese/Chinese/Korean
Shipping: Free for orders over $25
Notes: Who can beat free shipping? This makes it the perfect online store for your purchase of music/videos from major label artists like BEGIN, NATSUKAWA Rimi or Cocco. They also sell video games, anime, toys and a bunch of other stuff that’ll make that minimum order of $25 (to get free shipping) seem irrelevant.
Richie Recommends: Asano Irei’s Podcast
Published by June 4th, 2006 in Music, Software and Web. 0 CommentsOkay, I may totally be jumping the gun here since I’ve only listened to the first episode (I have all of ‘em downloaded tho’), but I’ll still recommend subscribing to IREI Asano’s podcast. It’s a lot of fun to listen to and especially gratifying when she sings on the program (as she did on the first episode for her song “Beautiful Energy” — thanks for the link earthhopper). I’m also going to recommend the Uchinaa-Guchi Podcast, also from FM Okinawa.
A Second Listen: Asano Irei’s ‘Rakuen’ Single
Published by June 4th, 2006 in Music, Software and Web. 0 CommentsIn a discography-related post of IREI Asano’s “Adan no Mi” album, I felt that the songs suffered a bit a lot from its techno-inspired production. Now, thanks to the artist-backed mp3 sampler site mF247 (featured in the “Free Music!” post), I had a chance to listen to a track of hers called “Rakuen” (lyrics/music by Asano) — a beautiful ballad and quite nicely produced too. The song is from a 2005 five-track EP of the same name and is the third album released by the young (21 year-old) singer-songwriter.
Asano has a new album coming out on July 5 titled “Nangoku Jiryu” (POCE-2539) and is a featured podcaster on FM Okinawa’s Groobug program.
