On Saturday (March 11), the Japanese Community Student Activity Unit held the Sashimi IX “Youkai” event. This event, which was held for the ninth time at Universitas Widyatama, featured a series of interesting events, including a Japanese Band Audition, Japanese Cosplay, Japanese Food Festival, and an exhibition by the manga automotive community.
The excitement of Sasmihi was evident from the number of visitors who attended the Widyatama Auditorium (GSG). Not only Widyatama students, but also external students and the general public were present, with nearly 1,000 people visiting the event. This shows that Japanese culture is still popular among young people in Bandung.
The event began promptly at 10:00 a.m., opened by the chief organizer, Rafie Eka Dharma, marked by a performance of the traditional Japanese dance “Sara Odori” performed by students from the Japan Community Widyatama. Rafie said, “The participants competed fiercely, and the winners received various attractive prizes with a total value of millions of rupiah.”
This year’s series of events featured not only music bands but also several competitions. Among them were:
- Cover Dance
- Cover Sing
- Cosplay Walk
- Cosplay Group
- Character Design
Dozens of cosplay characters enlivened the event, but the presence of Japanese judge Yukitaro Keiji attracted the most attention with his horned antagonist cosplay character in line with the theme of Youkai, which means “demon.”
Not only competitions and band performances, the event also featured food stalls and various Japanese goods. Sashimi IX closed with performances by several leading bands and cosplayers, including Yumi, Kirari Metal, Umbrella Time, Recode, Sasvrita, and many more.
