The circumstances were unkind to purple SKY’s interview with J-pop star Kawashima Ai at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Sakura Matsuri. We had to shuffle from location to location as the Cherry Esplanade Stage was shut down, and break when one of the many TV reporters wanted Kawashima to deliver a video message for her fans.

But despite the inconveniences, Kawashima’s kindness and eagerness to help shone through. At one point, the translator had to step aside, and Kawashima and I cobbled together an answer through her decent English and my broken Japanese.

“American people is very lively,” Kawashima said in describing her stateside audience. She felt they showed their energy more than her Japanese ones did.

Kawashima, the 23-year-old with a million-selling hit, three books and a charity project to her name, had always wanted to perform in New York. Her experience living in New York City at the end of 2008 strengthened her interest in singing here.

Her Brooklyn concert is part of a series of American appearances that also includes performances at a Sakura Matsuri in Washington, D.C., and Japan Day in New York City on May 31. Kawashima chose to perform at these festivals because they facilitate a communicative exchange between Japan and America. Moreover, she feels Japanese energy in the cultural activities like cosplay, making these events appropriate places for her to send her message.
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