Irene Dewald is a local media maven currently on-air at ZIP FM, hosting a show called BEATNIK JUNCTION 5 days a week during the crucial drive time hours 5pm to 7pm. What’s more, she’s a properly trained student of drama, having studied stage acting in both London and Paris. Irene brought her considerable talents to the Nagoya stage recently with roles in both “The Crucible” and “Romeo And Juliet”. Her grace and fearless acting lit up the stage in those productions. Irene is a burst of unpretentious energy whether in person, on air, or onstage.
We caught up with Irene and chatted her up over Chinese food late one night in Imaike, where she shared her thoughts on myriad subjects….
TD: Let’s jump right into it, where did you grow up?
ID: I grew up in Nissin City, just outside Nagoya, my dad is German, my mom is Japanese.
TD: What was it like growing up bi-racial in Japan 20 years ago?
ID: (Long pause) That’s a tough question, for me it was nothing special, but I’m always reminded about my race by other people, but for me, it was nothing special inside of me….
TD: Interesting. Let’s talk about your schooling, and what brought you back to Nagoya. You went to university in England right?
ID: I studied German, and started learning about ancient festivals in Europe. We did some performances based on ancient festivals, there were masks and stuff involved. As I was taking a course, I realized there are so many Japanese festivals in Japan, those festivals use masks, and I was really interested in masks. I came back to Japan on holiday, and started doing some research on masks. I found out about a 7 or 8 hundred year old festival just outside Nagoya called Hanamatsuri. I went to see it and it was mindblowing. I’d never seen anything like it. They do it in winter from November to March. They do it in different villages. That’s when I realized that I should be living here. Those festivals were disappearing, and not many people knew about it. When I went to Paris, I read about the festivals in a newspaper my mom sent me as well. I was doing drama training in Paris..
TD: Interesting. So you became interested in festivals, and left Paris art school, and then..
ID: I came back to Japan and had no job. I thought about what I should do, met this person by the beach, and he worked at city hall. He was looking for someone who could help promote the culture in the city. So he asked me to help with promoting this really old festival in the city to tourists. The festival is called “Tobanohi Matsuri.” That was a great experience for me. I did that for a year. That was four years ago. Then I moved to Tokyo.
TD: At ZIP FM, what’s your responsibility?
ID: I’m an announcer. I read news, weather, information, etc. I’m also a DJ, I play music also.
TD: In America, radio is still hugely popular and influential, but in Japan, seems radio is the ugly little step-brother to TV, why isn’t radio so popular among Japanese people?
ID: I don’t know! It was big in Nagoya until a few years ago, then it just changed. But I think since the earthquake, people are realizing that radio is close to them. Radio can provide really up-to-date and fast information.
TD: What’s been the best experience you’ve had at ZIP FM?
ID: That was the first show that I did after the earthquake. It was two days after. I didn’t know what to say, I was speechless. We didn’t really know what was going on, and it felt like every word I was saying had so much weight. We changed a lot of the format of the show, we tried to play soothing music. I didn’t want to sound dramatic, I didn’t want to say “good” things, I didn’t really even want to speak, but I held it together. My show lasted 6 hours that day, and at the end of it, when I said goodbye, after I turned off the mic, I burst into tears. I couldn’t take it anymore. I immediately started crying. That’s when I realized that this is my job. It was heavy. But it was a good experience for me.
TD: Intense. What do you see as your future plans in broadcasting? TV? Stay with radio…
ID: Well, things didn’t really start going well for me until about 2 years ago. As soon as I stopped worrying about what’s going to happen next, things started to work out. So I stopped thinking about the future since then. I just do what I have to do today.
Words of Wisdom Irene.
Cheers.
Irene’s on ZIP FM Monday through Friday 5pm to 7pm. Check her out. Great energy.
