Japan Expo Thailand 2023, this year’s edition of Asia’s biggest Japanese pop culture festival, was held February 3 – 5 in Bangkok. Hikaru Iwamoto and Koji Mukai of Snow Man appeared at the event!
This marks the third time that Snow Man has appeared at Japan Expo Thailand. Their first appearance was in 2020, shortly after their debut. During their time there, the group shot the music video for their song “Snow World.” the group also appeared at the 2022 event virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During this year’s event, Hikaru and Koji charmed attendees as well as appearing on Thai TV.
Check out comments from Hikaru and Koji, as well as photos and video from the event, below!
Snow Man is one of the biggest artists currently active in Japan. How does it feel to step out of your home country for an overseas event like this?
Koji: Despite having done most of our work exclusively in Japan, Snow Man, as a group, has always been consciously moving towards the goal of connecting with our fans overseas.
I remember thinking this the first time we were here at Japan Expo three years ago, but this event is such an amazing opportunity not only for Thai people to experience Japanese pop culture but also for us to introduce ourselves to a completely new audience and say “Hello!” to the fans who already know us in spite of the distance. My own resolve as a bi-cultural individual personally* has really been motivated this weekend, and I hope to work more in different countries and Thailand in particular to help Snow Man get bigger. It was so much fun to be here and thank you so much to everyone who came and helped make this happen!
*Note: Koji is half Thai and half Japanese, his mother being from Thailand originally.
Hikaru: I’m very surprised and touched that Snow Man has had so many opportunities to experience new and exciting places. Recently, another member (Raul) went to France to walk the runway at Paris Fashion Week for Yohji Yamamoto; and seeing the love and support not only from our fans in Japan but from local fans too on social media made me fondly recall the last time we were here in Thailand as a group and even before that when six of us took part in “Takizawa Kabuki” in Singapore for the show’s tenth anniversary.
I want to learn more about each of these places, and conversely how to better communicate as performing artists with people who don’t know who Snow Man or what Johnny’s even is. I really look forward to seeing even more comments in different languages on our YouTube videos and Instagram posts and working hard to grow both in Japan and beyond!
