Culture
exchange between Indonesia and Japan has been developing, and supported by
internet, the information spread with no limit, like the popularity of AKB48. This
was also proven by the number of fans they have in Indonesia who has known the
group well and been following their activities. This is one of the reason AKB48
was invited to introduce more about Japanese popular culture to Indonesia
through the J-Pop concert held as a part of the "Japan Pop Culture
Festival 2012" in Kartika Expo, Balai Kartini, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Three
hours before the start of the concert, a press conference was held and attended
by five members from AKB48 as well as five other members from JKT48. Takahashi Minami,
the leader of AKB48, expressed her excitement. She said the group was eager to
meet fans in Indonesia and said that they would like to visit Indonesia again.
They would also like to see an AKB48 Shop & Café in Indonesia too.
This
event was attended by more than 3000 fans who had registered themselves online
on Twitter and Facebook. AKB48 and JKT48 performed together on stage for the
song, "Aitakatta" and "Heavy Rotation". During the concert
there were moments where JKT48 and AKB48 were able to communicate with each
other (with a translator). One funny and cute segment was when Sashihara Rino
(AKB48 Team A) held a dictionary and said "selamat siang" in Bahasa
Indonesia. "Selamat siang" means "good day" or in Japanese
"konichiwa". Out of the blue, she also said "mancing" which
meant fishing.
Yoshinori
Katori, the ambassador of Japan, and Mari Elka Pangestu, the Minister of
Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia opened the concert with a short
speech in Bahasa Indonesia. This event was held with the purpose of
strengthening the friendship between Japan and Indonesia, especially in regards
to culture exchange. It was also a moment for Japan to show that the nation had
risen up again and would like to thank the Indonesian people and government for
their support during the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake. Not only the
culture itself as the universal language, along with the art, it has become
into the unifier of the nation. That is the reason they invited the icon of Japanese
Pop Culture, AKB48, and their sister group, JKT48, not only to collaborate and
perform for their fans in Indonesia, but also to create a more harmonic
relationship between the youth of these two nations.
Source : www.jpopasia.com
