AKB48

AKB48 (pronounced A.K.B. Forty-eight) is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (Akiba for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located, and its original roster of 48 members. As of December 2015, the group has expanded to include more than 130 members aged from their early teens to their mid-20s. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with its own theater (unlike pop groups performing occasional concerts and seen on television) and performing daily so fans could always see them live. This "idols you can meet" concept includes teams which can rotate performances and perform simultaneously at several events and "handshake" events, where fans can meet group members. Akimoto has expanded the AKB48 concept to several sister groups in Japan, China and Indonesia.

The group is one of the highest-earning musical performers in Japan, with 2013 sales of over $128 million, and has been characterized as a social phenomenon.As of December 2015 the group has sold over 41 million records, including over 36 million singles and over 5 millon albums. AKB48 is the highest selling musical act in Japan in terms of singles sold and the highest by a girl group. AKB48's twenty-nine latest singles have topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, with a record twenty-three singles selling over a million copies; their highest selling single, "Sayonara Crawl", sold over 1.95 million in 2013. In 2010 "Beginner" and "Heavy Rotation" placed first and second, respectively, on the list of Japan's best-selling singles for the year. In all consecutive years since then, AKB48's singles have occupied the top four or five spots of the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart.

Ryukyuan music

Ryukyuan music (琉球音楽, Ryūkyū ongaku), sometimes called Nanto music (南島歌謡, Nantō kayō) is an umbrella term that encompasses diverse musical traditions of the Amami, Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama Islands of southwestern Japan. The term of "Southern Islands" (南島, Nantō) is preferred by scholars in this field. In Japanese, the notion of "Ryūkyū" is associated with the highly centralized Ryūkyū Kingdom based on Okinawa Island and its high culture practiced by the pechin class in its capital Shuri. By contrast, scholars who cover a much broader region lay emphasis on folk culture.

Research history

Comprehensive studies on diverse musical traditions of the Southern Islands was done by Hokama Shuzen and his colleagues. Prior to that, the scopes of research were limited to each island group (Amami, Okinawa, Miyako or Yaeyama), or even narrower areas. These studies were done under the heavy influence of folklorists Yanagita Kunio and Orikuchi Shinobu, who searched for the origin of Japanese culture in the Southern Islands.

Anime Festival Asia

Anime Festival Asia (AFA) is a series of anime conventions held in the Southeast Asian region, with a core annual convention held in Singapore. The main convention is traditionally held over a weekend in mid-November. It was held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre in 2008–2011, but was moved to the Singapore Expo MAX Pavilion in 2012 due to renovation works at Suntec Convention Centre that year. Satellite conventions were also held in 2012 at the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and at the Jakarta International Expo, Kemayoran, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Alongside the main conventions, AFA also holds periodic business conferences focusing on the anime and manga industry. The first of these was Animation Asia Conference, held in 2009.

AFA is notable for having one of the largest attendance figures for anime conventions outside Japan, with 82,000 attendees in 2011. Total attendance since 2008 as of 2014 is 678,000.

The continued organisation of AFA is managed by Sozo. in partnership with Zepp Entertainment & Dentsu.

Ngee Ann City

Coordinates: 1°18′10″N 103°50′4″E / 1.30278°N 103.83444°E / 1.30278; 103.83444

Ngee Ann City (Chinese: 义安城; pinyin: Yì'ān Chéng) is a shopping and commercial centre located on Orchard Road, Singapore. The S$520 million building was officially opened on 21 September 1993 by then Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong. Many Singaporeans refer to Ngee Ann City as "Taka", a slang-abbreviation of the anchor tenant's name, Takashimaya.

Ngee Ann City currently houses the High Commission of New Zealand, which is situated on the 15th floor of Tower A.

History

In the 1950s, the land that Ngee Ann City sits on was a burial ground, owned and managed by Ngee Ann Kongsi. It was part of a parcel of land known as Tai Shan Ting, which was bounded by Orchard Road, Paterson Road and Grange Road. A ten-storey Ngee Ann Building was then built on the site, and was demolished to make way for Ngee Ann City.

Redevelopment of the site was first considered as early as 1967. Ngee Ann City was planned by Ngee Ann Development and the Orchard Square Development Corporation in the late 1980s. Raymond Woo, the architect who designed the complex, drew inspiration from the Great Wall of China. The intent was to reflect the dignity, solidity and strength of the Ngee Ann Kongsi. Wong spent five years designing and overseeing the project.