The Okinawan actress Taira Tomi is dead. A great comic actress, she played the title role in the 1999 comedy Nabbie no Koi directed by Nakae Yuji. This film was an off-the-wall look at an undying love. It looks at how Nabi, happily married to Keitatsu, is reunited with a man she fell in love with 60 years ago. They were forced to separate at that time because of opposition from Nabi's family. After their separation Sanra went to live in Brazil but each year Nabi wrote him a letter. At the end of the film, Nabi leaves the island together with Sanra. The film was a great hit in Japan and led to an an increased interest in the slower pace of life offered in Okinawa. There is lots of blue sky and white clouds, not to mention music and dancing. It has been noted in a number of reviews that the history of Okinawa during World War Two has been completely erased from the film. It is a film which attempts to assert the power of love and nature and the freedom of the individual over society and war. Apart from Taira Tomi, the other significant presence in the film is that of the great Okinawan sanshin player, Noborikawa Seijin, He was considered the greatest living singer of traditional Okinawan songs until his death in 2013. He also appeared in the film Hotel Hibiscus. In 2001, an album of his music was released called Spiritual Unity, which was produced by Soul Flower Union main-man Nakagawa Takeshi.
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