Okinawa to once again host the We Heart Namie fireworks festival for their queen

Namie Amuro may have retired from music, but that ain’t gonna stop Okinawa from reppin’ Queen Namiserable I and pimpin’ a bitch for ticket sales, turnout and tourism.

The We Heart Namie Hanabi Show is slowly becoming an annual event, and you best believe that the original sponsors of the event 7-Eleven will stay renewing their contract to be the sponsor of it. Because how many brands can say they are still the official sponsor of some Namie Amuro shit?

The We Heart Namie event is an in person event. But in 2020 it ended up being online, because _demic.

The We Heart Namie show always makes me chuckle when it comes around, because there is no official promotional photo which Namie shot for it, even back when she performed for it. The only photo they have of Namie is the one of her which looks like it was shot on a Game Boy camera.

Namie Amuro in the lowest of resolutions | © We Heart Namie Hanabi Show

That grain and loss of detail isn’t from me zooming in. That’s the quality.

The We Heart Namie event takes place on December 17, and is a ticketed event.

If I were in Japan, I would absolutely go to this. I’d take me a flask of sweet sake, and have me a real good time dancing through the hits with fellow Namie fans as the fireworks pop-pop. I’ve only ever been to one Hanabi festival, and it was (pun not intended, but kinda) a blast.

For those of you who are curious to find out more about it, or are in Japan and fancy heading to the event, you can find all of the info at the official website. The website is made up almost entirely of images. Even all of the text are images. Because, Japan. That’s how they do web design over there.

💻 Official website: We ♥ Namie Hanabi Show

It’s so crazy that Namie sailed to Valinor 5 years ago, and we have gotten NOTHING from Avex. No album of Namie Amuro covers from Avex artists. No B-Sides Best. No uploads of full music videos to YouTube. I wonder if Namie had her lawyers fax Avex something which states that they can’t release anything of hers without her approval. Because Avex ain’t getting those sales that they used to, and they are slashing budgets left and right. If they could have put out a Namie something, they would have done it by now. Imagine if Ayumi Hamasaki retired. It’s never happening. But imagine if she did. Avex would have those Ayu Best albums, vinyl releases and DVD / Blu-Ray re-issues rolling out every year.

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💿 Namie album reviews: Finally | _genic | Feel | Uncontrolled | Past < Future | Play | Queen of Hip-Pop | Style | When Pop hits the Fan | Break the Rules | Concentration 20
📀 Revised edition: Uncontrolled
🔊 Namie playlists: The ballads & slow jams | The buss down | This is Namie Amuro