MISS Universe Japan 2018 Yuumi Kato will be making a special appearance at the Penang Bon Odori 2019 next month.
The 22-year-old from Nagoya, who now works as a model, actress and reporter, has been invited to crown the Miss Penang Bon Odori 2019 at the Queensbay Mall outdoor car park on July 20 (7.45pm-8.45pm).
“She will be our special guest. The contest is part of the state’s effort to rebrand and bring the event to another level,” state Tourism Development, Heritage, Culture and Arts Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin told a press conference in Komtar today.
“The festival will serve as a platform to promote Japanese culture and enhance the friendship between Japanese people and Penangites.”
Ironically, Yuumi has part of her roots in Malaysia. After growing up in Japan for five years, her parents decided to move to Malaysia. So, between the age of five and 15, she grew up in Malaysia and this made her become a multi-lingual person who speaks in Japanese, Chinese, English and Malay.
In Malaysia, Yuumi is also well-known as “Mikan” for a character she played for Malay comedy series J.K.K. aired previously on TV3.
Then, from age 15 to 18, she went to Matsuo-ryu (tea ceremony organization) in Japan to study Japanese traditional culture and tea servings.
At age 19, she ventured into a modelling career on her own. In March 2018, Yuumi became more famous when she was crowned as Miss Universe Japan and represented her country in the beauty pageant in Bangkok.
Also present at the press conference were the Consul-General of Japan to Penang Shinichiro Kanoya, Penang Japanese Association (PJA) secretary-general So Takayoshi and other invited guests.
The festival, in its 23rd edition, is jointly organised by the Penang Tourism Development, Arts, Culture & Heritage (PETACH) office and the Japanese Consulate-General office.
Besides Yuumi, there will be another Japanese celebrity – comedian cum actor Zenjiro – at the Penang Bon Odori 2019
Kanoya said Zenjiro would be the guest master of ceremony at the Penang Bon Odori 2019.
He has won numerous prestigious prizes with his performance in English, Japanese and Korean. More recently, he won the Stand-up Bangkok International Comedy Competition in 2015 and fourth place in the Sacramento Stand-up Competition in 2016.
Kanoya said there would be other exciting programmes such as a ‘Ryukyu-Koku Matsuri-Daiko drumming ensemble’ comprising 12 performers. They had featured at the National Theater of Japan in Tokyo and at Carnegie Hall and were included in the lineup of the 1998 Nagani Olympics Cultural Arts Festival.
Another group, the Ryukyu Breeze with Kachimba, will come with eight performers to present various styles of dance. The fusion of dynamic live music by Kachimba and creative dance by Ryukyu Breeze will surely bring excitement to the Bon Odori stage.
Also don’t miss the ‘animation dance’ by the two-member team from Qualia, which involves attempts to imitate a dancing robot and the famous Michael Jackson move, “Moonwalk”.
The crowd will also be treated to a Wadaiko drum performance by Penang Japanese School and a Bon-Odori dance by Penang Japanese Association, Malaysian Japanese Society and Penang Japanese Language Society.
Local students will also get into action, with the SM Sultan Abdul Halim (Kedah) and SM Sains Kepala Batas teams slated to perform the Yosakoi dance.
At the closing stages, a fireworks display will be held at 10pm, followed by a lucky draw session, dance performance by Qualia, Bon Odori dance, and conclude with a second lucky draw session.
Story by K. Thaarshenii
Pix by Alissala Thian