Aki The Japanese Lady Who Promotes Traditional Malay Arts

By Kurniawati Kamarudin KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 (Bernama) -- Aki Nina-Uehara is among the handful of non-Malaysians advocating the preservation of the traditional Malay arts. The petite 35-year-old Japanese lady has developed such an affinity to the art that she is now even promoting it to her people back home. This writer first met Aki in late 2013, when attending a workshop on the Kelantanese traditional arts in Pasir Mas, Kelantan. She came on the invitation of the Kelantanese traditional music group, Geng Wak Long. Aki is so familiar with the people of Kelantan that she could easily sit down with them to enjoy a meal of rice and budu (fermented fish sauce), and converse in fluent Malay. A year after her meeting with the writer, she returned to Kelantan. This time, she came armed with plans to further promote traditional Malay arts groups in her country. BRINGING TRADITIONAL MUSIC TO JAPAN Aki started bringing traditional Malay arts to Japan three years ago when she brought in musician Mohd Kamrulbahri Hussin to perform solo at several locations in Tokyo. His performances were well-received by the Japanese public. This prompted Aki to organise traditional Malay music workshops at several locations in Tokyo, last October that featured Mohd Kamrulbahri and his group Geng Wak Long. "The Japanese people have been exposed to arts from a young age. So anyone wishing to bring in a performer or a group from outside to perform in Japan must ensure that those performers are of quality. "Kamrul is an exceptional performer and those who saw his performances in Tokyo can attest to it," she told Bernama when met in Kuala Lumpur late last year. This year, Aki is planning to bring traditional Malay dances and shadow play performances to Japan. "There has to be more effort to showcase the traditional arts to the world. The approach should also be different in order to attract a good audience, particularly from among the young," said Aki, who owns an event management company and provides translation and interpreter services. HEART IN MALAYSIA The love for the arts runs in the family. Aki’s father Tsuneko Uehara was a music professor and composer at the University of Osaka while her mother Kazuo Uehara was a piano teacher. Her first exposure to the Malay traditional arts was at age 16, when she first set foot in Malaysia. At the time, she had participated in a student exchange programme and lived a year with a foster family in Pahang (Peninsular Malaysia's east coast state) where she learned about the many forms of traditional Malay arts. "I lived with a Malay foster family in Felda Bukit Saga, Pahang and even went to school there. "It was a wonderful time. When I returned to Japan, I missed Malaysia very much and was determined to return and learn more particularly of the country's arts and culture," she said. Aki married Masahiro Nina, a musician from traditional performance art group Taikuh Jikang. After completing her studies in sociology at a University in Tokyo, she returned to Malaysia in 2002 to study the Malay language at Universiti Sains Malaysia. She then pursued her masters degree in Malay literature and ethnomusicology, graduating in 2007. "I joined the university’s arts and culture club as a violinist. It was there that I learned more about traditional songs and the “joget”, among others," said Aki, whose Masters thesis was on the Kedah “Wayang Kulit Gedek”. A BULLETIN ON MALAYSIA Her effort to introduce Malaysia to Japan was not only done through music and the arts but also by the regular publication of newspaper bulletins. The project that was launched last year was a joint effort with her friend Rie Takatsuka, a producer and film director. "I had befriended Rie earlier in the year. She also had the experience of working in Malaysia. So we thought of a way to introduce Malaysia to the Japanese, particularly to those living in Tokyo. "We decided to publish news bulletins about Malaysia and distribute it for free," said Aki who funded the project from her own pocket. Between 2,000 and 5,000 copies of the Japanese language bulletin was printed and distributed at Malaysian restaurants in Tokyo, the Malaysian embassy and offices. Its content was on the popular places and food in Malaysia, its film and arts industry and important events. "It is a quarterly publication and we have had two editions out so far. We hope it will help the Japanese people become more acquainted with Malaysia," she said. -- BERNAMA