In love with Japan

JAPANESE CULTURAL extravaganza Connect Japan 2015 returns to CentralWorld next weekend for a three-day blow out of music, movies, fashion and food.

“As a leading Thai-Japanese joint venture in the entertainment and marketing communications businesses, we are well aware of the popularity of Japan. Statistics from the Japan National Tourism Organisation reveal that in 2004, 657,600 Thais visited Japan, while 1.2 million Japanese tourists came to Thailand. The figures have been going up ever since” says Jirath Pavaravadhana of Vertex Asia Corporation.

Connect Japan 2015, which is costing Bt80 million to put on will be divided into five zones. “Japan Runway” features a selection of leading fashion brands including Faco (Fukuoka Asia Collection) and Tokyo Runway. The shows will be graced by some of Japan’s top fashion icons, among them Ami Aya, Una, Ema Eri and Anna Yano. There’ll also be performances by Japanese artists such as Tempura Kidz, Cyberjapan Dancers, Cream, Yu-A and LinQ as well as DJ Yamato, winner of “The World DJ Contest 2013 Japan”.

“Japan Travel” will be offering a range of new and unseen tourist attractions like Kyushu and Okayama plus travel deals. The third zone, “Moshi Moshi Nippon”, focuses on Japanese pop culture with more than 10 booths including free karaoke by DAM and free photo stickers by Fuji Film, as well as makeup and a hair salon. 

The fourth zone, “Film Showcase”, will see the screening of “Silver Spoon”, “Cape Nostalgia”, “Hagani” (“I Don't Have Many Friends”) and “The Last Naruto the Movie” while the fifth zone, “Sake Festival”, will be offering 10 delicious sakes imported from Japan. Visitors can also enjoy a revitalising foot soak.

“This time, we will bring onsen spa powder from several onsens and adjust the temperature so that it’s similar to the real thing. Soaking your feet in an onsen is good for the health. 

“We will be offering lot of sakes from different cities and our ‘Moshi Moshi’ zone will be modelled on Harajuku and feature a nail salon and cheesecake from Japan,” says Jirath.

Two of Tempura Kidz’s five members, Yuka and Pichan, were in town recently to attend the press conference at Groove@ CentralWorld, and delighted participants by putting on a pop dance show.

“I love the Thai people. They are always smiling and very friendly,” Yuka told XP. “We’ll be presenting our new single and dance performance at the event.”

Tempura Kidz is made up of the former back-up dancers for J-pop artist Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. In 2012, the group debuted its music video and in 2013 released their first digital single “Strobe”, which was used as a theme for the anime “Cho Soku Henkei Gyrozetter”. 

“Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has many backup dancers. So, the manager and producer picked some of us out to form Tempura Kidz,” says Yuka, who started dancing for the J-pop artist while at elementary school. The 16-year-old is now attending high school.

Tempura Kidz has just released two new singles including “Suki Suki! Tempura Kidz” in collaboration with the smartphone app Angry Birds. The group is set to tour Taiwan, Europe and America this summer.

 

GETTING CONNECTED

 

Connect Japan 2015 takes place at CentralWorld from Friday through May 17 and will also visit Pattaya, Hat Yai and Chiang Mai.