Seasoned clown upholds mission of spreading joy to people

SIBU (Aug 20): If there is one wish that professional clown Kosuke Omune wants from people, it is to smile and be entertained.

The 55-year-old, who has been in this line for 30 years, regards smiling as an important attribute in work, communications – ‘basically, in every aspect of life’.

According to him, as a professional clown, making others smile is his mission.

“It’s my mission when starting my entertainment company and my association, Pleasure Planning Co Ltd and Hospital Clown Japan Association.

“I have 20 clowns in my entertainment company, and approximately 150 clowns across Japan registered as members of my association.

“The association have signed contracts with 99 children’s hospitals in Japan, and we visit each hospital twice a month,” he told The Borneo Post in an interview recently.

Omune, famously known as ‘K-Clown’, was in Sibu to perform at the recent Borneo Puppet Clown and Story Carnival 2024.

The event was arranged by the Lions Club of Sibu Seduan, and supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak, with Wisma Sanyan and Amcorp Sibujaya Sdn Bhd coming in as the corporate partners.

During his visit here, Omune and performers from eight other countries performed at different primary schools and non-governmental organisation (NGO) establishments throughout this district, bringing joy and cheer to the children.

Omune admitted that a career in the clown entertainment industry was not his first choice.

“However, I took interest in the job so as to change my personal character, in hopes of becoming a more cheerful individual.

“I’m not a funny guy, but rather a very complex one. I have always had a negative way of perceiving things.

“I couldn’t tell jokes, and that’s something about my character that I wanted to change.

“I had no intention of becoming a professional clown, but I joined a clown programme to change my character because I wanted to laugh more,” he recalled.

Omune described himself as ‘a great athlete’ during his school days, where he competed in pole vaulting, and actually held Japan’s high school record of 4.91m.

After graduating from the university with a degree in physical education, Omune attended a two-week clown camp in the US, studying the industry during his summer holiday.

Upon completion, he returned to Japan and thus, established his career as a professional clown.

While in the entertainment business, Omune continues to join the same clown camp in the US during his summer break, intending to evolve his character and enhance his clowning skills and talent.

“Changing my own character was very difficult. It took a long time to be able to see positive changes in myself.”

Throughout his career, Omune has travelled around the world to perform and also learned from other performers.

However, with all clowns in Japan leaning towards working alone, Omune initiated the setting-up of a company to gather all the workers in this segment who were interested in collaborating together.

“Working along, if I received two job offers taking place at the same time, I would have to reject one.

“With a team, however, even if there are multiple offers at the same time, it’s possible for the company to accept all gigs.”

Omune liked to describe his company as ‘one with a fun atmosphere, allowing performers to learn from one another without fear’.

“A clown’s attitude is the most important aspect,” he said, stressing that clowns ‘must be diligent and serious’ in the business.

“Those interested in being a clown do not need to be good in juggling or acrobats. Their attitude and motivation are the most important.

“Mastering a skill is a continuous effort. Despite the 30 years of experience, I am still learning many other skills,” he said.

Omune added that in his company, students would not solely learn about clowning, as they would also learn social and emotional skills.

“In my company, we do three things: teach, keep and sell.

“We have a studio where we learn about and practise clowning. In the same studio, we learn ballet.

“Also, we learn social skills to interact best with various parties, whether they are young or elderly people. It’s best to make everyone in the audience laugh,” he said.

It is learnt that in the past 30 years, Omune has trained over 1,000 clowns in Japan, and with this experience, he also speaks to businesses regarding entrepreneurism.