Conchita Wurst on First Visit to Japan – Talk Shows, Tokyo Daijingu, and a Yukata

Conchita in Japan 1
Conchita at the Tokyo Daijingu — one of the five most important shrines in the city.

Austrian singer Conchita Wurst is currently on her first visit to Japan and if the talk shows she’s appearing on, the many interviews she’s doing, and Friday’s performance on one of Japan’s most popular music shows are anything to go by, it’s already looking like she’s a hit.

Conchita is in Tokyo for a week to promote her debut album Conchita.

Her trip began with an appearance on the breakfast TV show Sukkiri on Tuesday morning, where she gave a beautiful performance of her Eurovision winning song ‘Rise Like a Phoenix’.

And, this being Japanese TV, of course, with all its lovely craziness, there was a mini-game. A segment where she had to answer as many questions as she could in a limited amount of time (see video below).

Questions like “Upon meeting a man for the first time, what would you look at first” (Humour), “Is there something new you’d like to try your hand at?” (Well, I’m not a good dancer so I’m working on that), and “Do you want to get married?” (I don’t know. Maybe one day there will be a guy who can live with me).

And my personal favorite “Which of these two male hosts do you prefer?” And Conchita, being lovely and kind and, of course, always diplomatic, asked “Can I take them both?”, which pleased the two men no end.

Conchita Wurst in Japan 2
And doesn’t she just look gorgeous in a traditional Japanese yukata.

After Sukkiri, Conchita headed to one of Tokyo’s most important and most beautiful shrines, Tokyo Daijingu, where she wore a traditional Japanese yukata — a lightweight and casual style of kimono the Japanese have always worn in the summer months — and participated in the Japanese tradition of writing a wish on a piece of paper and then tying it to a bamboo tree.

As you’d probably expect, if you know enough about Conchita, her wish was for “Happiness forever” which, not surprisingly, is what many fans always wish for her, so she’s sure to get it.

Conchita Wurst will be in Japan for the rest of the week with more interviews and TV appearances scheduled, including an exciting guest spot coming up on Friday on ANN network’s Music Station. That will put her in the same company as artists like Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé, who have all appeared on the show.

Also known as M Sute (Mステ Emu Sute), Music Station reaches a huge audience of around 30 million people, but not just in Japan. The show is also broadcast in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Singapore, the US and Canada and, yes, even here in Thailand.

Now isn’t that one of the best ways she could possibly have to get even more people to fall in love with her?

And, as a long-term expat in Asia, and so acclimatized to the way people are expected to behave in many Asian countries, I watched Conchita Wurst on Japanese TV and I thought how perfect she is for it.

In Japan, just like in Thailand where I live, an enormous emphasis is placed on being polite, respectful, calm, kind, and a good person.The Japanese also admire people who are hard-working, and who seem happy.

That means, if you are a celebrity, you are expected to be all of these things and more and, if you are, you will be greatly admired.

And all I can say is out of my years of writing about thousands of celebrities, I have seen few non-Asians who would fit in with the Japanese (and Thai) way of thinking as well as Conchita Wurst does.

Let’s face it, she is made for Japan. And I expect big things in the future for her there.

About Michelle Topham

I'm a Brit-American journalist, former radio DJ at 97X WOXY, and Founder/CEO of Leo Sigh. I'm also obsessed with music, anime, manga, and K-dramas. Help!

Leave a Reply