At Kotae Expo 2024 we’ll meet various guests around Japanese and Korean popular culture topics. Get to know our published guests on this page! By clicking on the names of our guests, you can also access our news article about them, where you can find more detailed information about them. News articles available only in Finnish.

All guests of Kotae Expo 2024 will be published on this page during the spring.

Our published Guests of honour are:

Makoto Yukimura

Makoto Yukimura is a japanese mangaka. His best-known works to the Finnish public is the Vinland Saga, which has been published since 2005, and whose publications continue to this day. Yukimura’s other works include:

– Planetes (2001-2004, science fiction)
– Sayōnara ga Chikai node (2004)
– Vinland Saga series collaborative publications

Makoto Yukimura made his professional debut in 1999, when Planetes was published in the magazine Weekly Morning. A 26-episode anime series has also been edited from the Planetes series.

Makoto Yukimura’s career has continued to be busy ever since his debut. His longer-running Viking-themed series Vinland Saga has reached the list of best-selling manga in Japan multiple times, and it has also won the main prize of the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2009. The anime series produced from Vinland Saga has won several awards during the years 2020-2024.

At Kotae Expo, Makoto Yukimura will be seen in a virtual interview and Q&A event. You can watch the interview in the Sirius program hall on Sunday, June 30, 2024! After the interview, the audience will have the opportunity to ask the star their own questions in the form of a Q&A opportunity.

Programs in which Makoto Yukimura can be seen in Kotae:

Interview and Q&A – Sunday 30 March 2024 at 12:30. Sirius Hall.

Tasuku Hatanaka

Tasuku Hatanaka is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer. Tasuku Hatanaka is known, among other things, for his roles in series and movies:

– Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
– Ushio and Tora
– My Hero Academia
– Ultraman Z
– My Hero Academia
– Maboroshi
– Bubble

He has also starred in many video games in his career, including Genshin Impact, Final Fantasy, Shadowverse, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, and Kingdom Hearts.

He made his debut as a voice actor in the role of Edmund Pevensie, in the Japanese dubbing of the Narnia stories, after which he has also been involved in the dubbing of many other films and series.

At Kotae Expo, Tasuku Hatanaka will be seen in a virtual interview and Q&A session. You can watch the interview in the Sirius program hall on Sunday 30 June 2024! After the interview, the audience will have the opportunity to ask the star their own questions in the form of a Q&A opportunity.

Programs in which Tasuku Hatanaka can be seen in Kotae:

Interview and Q&A – Sunday 30 June 2024 at 14:00. Sirius Hall.

Gen Takagi

Gen Takagi is a Japanese comedian who moved to Finland, and is known for his YouTube channel GEN TAKAGI | KORKEALINNA.

Our guest’s dream is to combine Finnish and Japanese comedy by bringing the Japanese comedy style to Finland permanently. We will be hearing more about manzai comedy style in Kotae along the performance and Q&A programs!

Manzai is a form of comedy show where comedians perform on stage in front of a mic and make the audience laugh with pre-scripted funny conversation.

The programs that Gen Takagi stars at Kotae Expo:

Saturday: TBA

Sunday: TBA

Namikolinx

Namikolinx is a Finnish content creator and social media influencer, known especially for her positive and funny YouTube videos.

Did you know that Namikolinx’s own book “on rankkaa olla tyhmä” (It’s Hard to Be Stupid) was released in January 2024?

“It’s hard to be stupid, is a phrase I’ve run around a lot in my head, even though it’s not even true. Who put this idea in my head? Bullies? Teachers? Strangers online?”

This empowering self-esteem book deals with topics that many people can easily identify with. At Kotae, you will have the opportunity to ask more questions, since Namikolinx will be seen in Nami’s story time Q&A program at Kotae! You might also get to meet Nami in person at a meet & greet event!

The programs that Namikolinx stars at Kotae Expo:

Saturday: TBA

Sunday: TBA

ZoneVD & Herbalisti

ZoneVD and Herbalisti, i.e. Joona Leppälä and Juuso Karikuusi, are both Finnish youtubers and content creators who among other things have rised to the attention of the general public through their YouTube channels.

In addition to their careers as Youtubers, the duo also share a strong interest in Japanese culture and its phenomena. They have also visited Japan several times, publishing a lot of content from their travels.

Have you always wanted to know more about visiting or living in Japan? Come and hear more about the topic in the talk show of ZoneVD and Herbalisti! In addition to the program, ZoneVD and Herbalist will be seen at Meet & Greet event – are you ready to meet them live?

The programs that ZoneVD and Herbalisti are starring at Kotae Expo:

Lauantai: TBA

Sunnuntai: TBA