is a Japanese journalist, television reporter, television personality, and former

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

Announcer.

Early years

Udo was born in Ijūin Town (now Hioki City),

Kagoshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. At an early age she moved to

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, where she grew up. Failing to pass the entrance examination for

Osaka University , abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Project. ...

, she eventually went on to Kobe College instead. She was hired by

in 1991. Her hobbies included reading, traveling and cooking. Also, she was a good ''

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...

'' player and a licensee of the second grade of it from the All Japan Kendo Federation. She belonged to the ''kendo'' club when she was a junior and senior high school student.

Career

Spending a few years as a cub sports reporter at the NHK Osaka Branch, Udo moved to Tokyo and became a news anchor for ''

NHK News Ohayō Nippon ''NHK News Ohayō Nippon'' （ ja, NHKニュースおはよう日本, en, NHK News Good Morning Japan）is a Japanese morning television show on NHK General TV, anchored mainly by Masayuki Sanjo and Nachiko Shudo, from the NHK studios at NHK ...

'' in 1994. She worked at ''Saturday Sports'', ''Sunday Sports'' and ''NHK News 10'' as an anchor. She was involved in live coverage works in sport events and Olympic games. Udo hosted NHK's New Year's Eve music concert ''

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

'' in 2001, 2002 and 2003. In 2006, Udo hosted an afternoon talk show ''Studio Park kara Konnichiwa''. In June 2007, Udo was moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as a correspondent. She stayed there for about two years and a half. She was promoted as Chief Announcer in June 2008. Returning to Tokyo, Udo was appointed as a main presenter for '' Asaichi'' in 2010 with

Yoshihiko Inohara was a six-member Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. The group debuted on November 1, 1995, with the single "Music for the People", which was used as the image song for the World Cup of Volleyball in 1995. Their first four singles, ...

, a member of V6, one of Japan's most popular pop groups. Targeted mainly at women in their 40s, the show dealt with a wide variety of themes, from information about health and money, to infertility problems, menopausal disorders and the problem of sexless relationships. Udo played the role of the leading host for ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. On March 30, 2018, Udo and Inohara left ''Asaichi'', handing over to

Yurie Omi is a Japanese former announcer and news presenter, news anchor for NHK. She left NHK in March 2021. She was famous for being the co-host of NHK's morning talk show ''Asaichi'' as well as its geological television series ''Bura Tamori''. Early ...

and

Hanamaru-Daikichi Hakata is a Japanese comedy duo ''( kombi)'' consisting of Daikichi Hakata (博多大吉) and Hanamaru Hakata (博多華丸) that have featured in a number of television shows. They are employed by Yoshimoto Kogyo, and are mainly active in Tokyo. They g ...

. She resigned from NHK on March 31. Udo became news anchor of

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

's nightly news program ''news zero'' in October 2018. On November 9, 2019, Udo was a host of the national festival held to mark

Emperor Naruhito is the current Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan's traditional order of succession. ...

's enthronement.

Filmography

;Television * ''Ten Urara'' (1998), narrator * '' Sanadamaru'' (2016), narrator ;Film * ''

Hit Me Anyone One More Time is a 2019 Japanese political and comedy film directed by Kōki Mitani. It stars Kiichi Nakai. Mitani wrote a script for a similar political drama series '' Sōrito Yobanaide'' aired on Fuji TV in 1997. Plot The main character of the film is the ...

'' (2019), newscaster * ''

Last of the Wolves is a 2021 Japanese crime and yakuza film. It is a sequel to the 2018 film ''The Blood of Wolves''. Premise In the early 1990s, a young detective Shūichi Hioka controls the yakuza in Hiroshima, but the situation completely changes when Shigehiro ...

'' (2021), radio personality

Book

* ''Udouroku'' (

Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: '' Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (19 ...

, 2014) .

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Udo, Yumiko 1969 births Living people Japanese announcers Japanese television personalities Japanese television presenters Japanese women television presenters People from Kagoshima Prefecture People from Osaka