Japan Pop Culture Festival 2012: AKB48 x JKT48 Concert

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.

Song List :

1. Flying Get
2. Everyday, Kachuusha
3. Iiwake Maybe
4. Kimi no Koto Ga Suki Dakara
5. Bird
6. Heart Gata Venus
7. Kiseki wa Ma ni Awanai
8. Itoshiki Natasha
9. Himawari
10. Kaze wa Futeiru
11. RIVER
12. Beginner
13. Ponytail to Shushu
14. Aitakatta
15. Heavy Rotation

Supported by Agency for Cultural Affairs.
Organized by Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia, Embassy of Japan in Indonesia, Japan Foundation, Jakarta Japan Club (JJC), Al-Azhar Indonesia University, Komunitas Alumni Jepang Indonesia (KAJI - Committee of Japanese Alumni in Indonesia).

Source : JpopAsia