Published by Richie December 13th, 2006
in Music, Software and Web.
Okay, so I’m perusing the virtual aisles of the iTunes Store and I run a Power Search under the ‘J-Pop’ genre and surprise! We got pop (girl pop to be exact). You’ll find the artists who are no-brainers like Ayumi Hamasaki, m-flo, BoA, Ai Ootsuka and (here’s where the Okinawan-connection hits) Namie Amuro! Yup, they pretty much have Amuro covered and that is in itself really great but the thing that led me to actually blog about it is the availability of the out-of-print 3-inch (8cm) singles like “Can You Celebrate?” among others. Needless to say, owners of music from the iTunes Store already know that the albums and singles come with the cover art which should be a big plus to those (like yours truly) who are seriously into their digital audio collections. Looks like an update to my “List of Artists Available at the US iTMS” is in order. 
(Tip: Artists from Japan/Okinawa are strewn all about the iTunes Store under several genres so your best bet is to do a search under the artist name to find what you’re looking for.)
Published by Richie December 13th, 2006
in Music and Web.
If you have a Japan iTunes Store account, head on over there (or rather, click on over) to download the latest free single of the week: Okinawan Hip-Hop artist AWICH (the names means “Asia WIsh CHild”). The normally ¥150 song that’s being offered is called “Dedicate to you” and you can also pickup another freebie of hers called “Saruu (Virgin Mix)” at mF247 (no account necessary).
So you’re out-of-luck if you live outside of Japan and are without a Japan iTunes Store account because you won’t be able to grab the free download. But, luckily (well, depending on how you look at things), the single as well as an EP is available at the US iTunes Store! Jumping for joy? I thought so.
Published by Richie December 13th, 2006
in Music and Entertainment.
Surprised by the title? I am. Well, it being a semi-nude photo collection is kinda vague and not having seen the book (called Gekkan LINA) yet, I wonder how risque it really is gets. The photos of LINA (29) were taken by Maki Kawakita and were shot on location in New York. MAX celebrated their 10th anniversary in the J-pop scene last year and with their last couple of singles have infused Shimauta into their upbeat tunes.
Published by Richie December 3rd, 2006
in Music and Television.
It’s here! As is with every year the Kouhaku comes around, you may be disappointed to find (or is it not find) your favorite artist on their list of performers. (It was reported by nikkansports.com that Cocco—one of my favorite J-pop artists—would be making her initial appearance on the show but she’s nowhere to be found!) Be sure to check out Wikipedia’s Kouhaku entry if you’re unfamiliar or wish to reacquaint yourself with the annual music battle. Artists I’m looking forward to for this year’s show are ayaka, Angela Aki, IMAI Miki, ŌTSUKA Ai, DCT, NAKASHIMA Mika, NAGAYAMA Yōko, NATSUKAWA Rimi, BONNIE PINK, WADA Akiko, SUGA Shikao, and Smap. If it’s any indication, majority of them are from the Aka-gumi who I’m predicting will take it all this year too. (The above image is of the artists who’ll be making their first appearance on the show.)
Note: Number of appearances are in () with “0″ being an artist’s debut on the show. If available, I decided to link to the artist’s (English or Japanese) Wikipedia entry which should also have a link to the artist’s official website. Artists from Okinawa are in bold.
赤組 Aka-gumi (Red Team) Female Artists
aiko (5) J-pop
絢香 ayaka (0) J-pop
アンジェラ・アキ Angela Aki (0) J-pop
石川さゆり ISHIKAWA Sayuri (29) Enka
今井美樹 IMAI Miki (0) J-pop
大塚 愛 ŌTSUKA Ai (3) J-pop
川中美幸 KAWANAKA Miyuki (19) Enka
GAM (0) J-pop
& モーニング娘。Morning Musume. (9) J-pop (Group member NIIGAKI Risa is Uchinanchu.)
香西かおり KOZAI Kaori (14) Enka
倖田來未 KODA Kumi (2) J-pop
伍代夏子 GODAI Natsuko (13) Enka
小林幸子 KOBAYASHI Satsuko (28) Enka
坂本冬美 SAKAMOTO Fuyumi (18) Enka
天童よしみ TENDOU Yoshimi (11) Enka
DREAMS COME TRUE (11) J-pop
中島美嘉 NAKASHIMA Mika (5) J-pop
長山洋子 NAGAYAMA Yōko (13) Enka
夏川りみ NATSUKAWA Rimi (5) J/O-pop
浜崎あゆみ HAMASAKI Ayumi (8) J-pop
平原綾香 HIRAHARA Ayaka (3) J-pop
藤 あや子 FUJI Ayako (15) Enka
BoA (5) J-pop
BONNIE PINK (0) J-pop
水森かおり MIZUMORI Kaori (4) Enka
mihimaru GT (0) J-pop
森 昌子 MORI Masako (15) Enka
和田アキ子 WADA Aiko (30) Vocals
WHAT HAPPENED TO COCCO?!
Check out the previous year’s Red Team lineup.
白組 Shiro-gumi (White Team) Male Artists
秋川雅史 AKIKAWA Masafumi (0) Vocals
Aqua Timez (0) J-pop
五木ひろし ITSUKI Hiroshi (36) Enka
w-inds. (5) J-pop
ORANGE RANGE (2) J-pop
北島三郎 KITAJIMA Saburou (43) Enka
北山たけし KITAYAMA Takeshi (2) Enka
ゴスペラーズ Gospellers (6) J-pop
コブクロ Kobukuro (2) J-pop
さだまさし SADA Masashi (18) Folk
SEAMO (0) J-pop
スガシカオ SUGA Shikao (0) J-pop
スキマスイッチ Sukima Switch (2) J-pop
SMAP (14) J-pop
DJ OZMA (0) J-pop
TOKIO (13) J-pop
徳永英明 TOKUNAGA Hideaki (0) J-pop
鳥羽一郎 TOBA Ichirou (19) Enka
氷川きよし HIKAWA Kiyoshi (7) Enka
布施明 FUSE Akira (22) Vocals
細川たかし HOSOKAWA Takashi (32) Enka
堀内孝雄 HORIUCHI Takao (17) Vocals
ポルノグラフィティ Porno Graffitti (5) J-pop
前川 清 MAEKAWA Kiyoshi (16) Enka
美川憲一 MIKAWA Kenichi (23) Vocals
森 進一 MORI Shinichi(39) Enka
WaT (2) J-pop
Check out the previous year’s White Team lineup.
[Via NHK’s special Kouhaku website.]
Published by Richie November 27th, 2006
in Music and Television.
NAKAMA Yukie’s popularity is at an all-time high so why not complete the year as NHK’s emcee for their 57th annual Kouhaku Uta-Gassen? This’ll be the 27 year-old’s second year as the Red Team’s (aka-gumi) hostess and maybe we’ll even see her perform her quirky made-for-CM-song “Koi no Download”.
