#30 Cultural Diplomacy in St. Petersburg – Interview with Sumire Uesaka（3/3）

2015.07.22

Tanks and Lolita
There was one thing that I just had to get Uesaka to do for me while we were in St. Petersburg and that was to pose for a photo in front of a tank at the Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps wearing lolita clothes.
The story goes back to 2010 when I was leading the Japan-China Exchange Group in Chongqing, China, and one of the lolita fashion designers in the group took a photo in front of a tank and posted it on Twitter. It drew an immediate response from Uesaka. Uesaka is quite the military otaku and knowing that there were several tanks on display outside the Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps was another contributing factor towards her strong feelings for St. Petersburg.

Uesaka “For me, it was like finding a mountain of treasure. They had all kinds of weapons; it was awesome. I even got to see actual self-propelled artillery, like the kind you see in military parades. As you might expect of Russia, the collection of artillery alone was incredible.”

When you were standing next to the tank, it was like “GIRLS und PANZER,” the tank-themed anime that you were a part of, had come to life.

Uesaka “I’m glad that we went to a book store together while we were in St. Petersburg, Sakurai-san, because they had such a collection of military related books and I got to buy a few things to take home.”

At Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps

So now that we’ve been to Moscow and St. Petersburg, what’s the next place you want to visit in Russia?

Uesaka “I would love to go to Eastern Russia! It would be great if we could take cultural diplomacy to Irkutsk, Vladivostok or Sakhalin next.”

And with that, I added another city to the list of places I've promised to visit with Uesaka.

Unlike our first trip together, this time we’ve come as a visiting group. How did you feel this time around?

Uesaka “I’m really happy I was able come to Russia with so many people. We’re a single unit, so it’s been good making friends with all these people that I wouldn’t normally cross paths with in daily life.”

A photo with the visiting group.

Japan-Russia exchange party at the official residence of the Consulate General in St. Petersburg.

Last day of AniCon. The visiting group taking Uesaka to the airport.
As Uesaka’s trip came to and end, the entire group went to see her off at the airport. Her attitude towards Russia paved the way for the visiting Youth Exchange Group and you can read more about our activities after Uesaka’s departure in my upcoming articles.

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Columnist: Sakurai Takamasa　　

Contents Media Producer, author, specially-appointed professor of Digital Hollywood University / Digital Hollywood University graduate school, and International Otaku Expo Association Executive Office Director. Carrying out cultural diplomatic activities in over 140 cities across 27 countries/regions in total, has held numerous positions in various consultancy committees for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2009, served as a producer for the “Kawaii Ambassador” program, which was established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has also pioneered cultural diplomacy that makes use of Japanese pop culture, such as anime fashion and music. Frequently invited as a guest to various Japanese events across the globe, has authored several books including, "Nihon ga Suki sugiru Chugokujin Joshi" (PHP Shinsho), "Sekai Kawaii Kakumei" (PHP Shinsho), and "Anime Bunka Gaiko" (Chikuma Shinsho). Has also worked as a television commentator, radio personality and contributed articles for newspapers, as well as web magazines. Currently writing the column, “Pop Culture Chronicles” for the asianbeat website (in Japanese,　Chinese and English.)

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Pop Culture Chronicles: http://asianbeat.com/en/popculture/

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