Wasabi at BondiFM
BY CYNTHIA BARCLAY
Shino Okita looks like the girl next door but in fact is a famous celebrity DJ in Japan with a radio show in Sydney. Based in Bondi, she is hosting ‘Wasabi’, the first bilingual music program at BondiFM 88.0MHz.
Born and raised in Tokyo, she soon discovered non-Japanese music and became a well-known DJ. She also worked as an interpreter for Alicia Keys, Maroon5 and Coldplay, among other artists visiting Japan. One casual encounter with film director Rachel Lucas in 2004 gave her the idea of going overseas and doing her own show. Lucas directed Bondi Tsunami, a film inspired by the young Japanese who come to Australia on working holiday visas to surf.
In the beginning Okita’s plan was to stay for two years but she received such an overwhelming response from her audience that she decided to stay longer to develop a cultural bridge between Japan and Australia.
‘I invite students and working holiday makers to the radio, to talk about their experience in this country,’ she said. ‘Bondi has a huge Japanese community, mostly young people.’
Her goals are to create a bridge between the two cultures and to fight preconceived ideas about Japan.
‘Some people say Japanese are boring because we don’t talk too much but they need to understand that Japanese people are very shy by nature,’ she said. ‘To make things more confusing, in our culture we express respect for one another through silence. This attitude is common misinterpreted by Australians.’
Wasabi is on air every Friday from 12pm to 2pm at www.bondifm.com.au
Radio Station – BondiFM 88.0MHz
