Agnes Lum

Agnes Nalani Lum (; born May 21, 1956), or Lum-chan, is an American former model, singer, and actress who gained popularity in Japan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She began modeling while still in high school. She won the Miss Hawaii USA contest in 1974, but was disqualified due to barely missing the age cutoff.

After modeling for Shiseido in 1974, she became a very popular model in Japan, appearing in advertisements for Coca-Cola, Lion, Toyota, Asahi Kasei, and Kodak. She was also featured on the covers and in interior photo collections in magazines such as ''Weekly Playboy'', '' Heibon Punch'', ''Myojo'', ''Goro'', and ''Yomiuri Weekly''. The fictional character Lum, from the '' Urusei Yatsura'' manga series by Rumiko Takahashi, was modeled after her.

During her short singing career, Lum released two singles and two albums from 1977 to 1978. The first single, , charted at #79 on the Oricon singles chart. A compilation album was released in 2002. She appeared as herself in a short promotional film released in 1976, as well as taking a supporting role in the 1981 film, . She has made numerous appearances on television variety shows and "what is this celebrity doing now?" shows.

Lum married a childhood friend in 1986, and they had twins in 1987.

Biography and career

Agnes Nalani Lum was born on May 21, 1956 in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii to a Chinese father and a multiracial mother of Korean, Native American, and Native Hawaiian ancestry. She attended Kalāheo Intermediate School where she was a cheerleader in 9th grade. While attending Kailua High School, she continued with her cheerleading and began working as a model, becoming well known in Hawaii. She was named Miss Hawaii USA in 1974, but was disqualified because she was three days too young to compete in the contest.

Career

Her first job modeling for a Japanese company was for Shiseido in 1974. Following that job, she became a sensation and was requested for additional modeling work in Japan, appearing in advertisements for Coca-Cola, Lion, Toyota, Asahi Kasei, and Kodak. She was often referred to as "Lum-chan" in order to avoid confusion with Agnes Chan, a popular idol at the time in Japan. All of the photography work for these jobs were done outside of Japan, including in Hawaii and Guam. In March 1975, she made her first trip to Japan, and she remembers it being very cold. Her first modeling jobs in Japan were for Glico Dairy Products and an appearance in the magazine '' Non-no''. She was the cover model ten times or more for ''Weekly Playboy'', '' Heibon Punch'', ''Myojo'' ( ja), ''Goro'' ( ja), and ''Yomiuri Weekly'' ( ja), and she was the inspiration for the name of the fictional character Lum from '' Urusei Yatsura''.

Lum became an overnight success in Japan after becoming the first Clarion Girl in June 1975, hired to promote Clarion products in a television and print advertising campaign. The first Clarion poster to feature Lum had 10,000 copies printed, but most of them were shortly stolen from storefronts. 100,000 additional copies of the poster were printed, but most of them also disappeared quickly. Lion offered 50 posters featuring Lum as promotional gifts for those who purchased their Emeron Minky Treatment (a hair product), and they were flooded with over 140,000 requests for the poster. Her popularity was considered unusual for a photographic model as she was not an actor or a singer at the time, and she showed little interest in those.

She was scheduled for a trip to Japan in July 1976, but canceled it amid rumors that she disliked the busy photography and media appearance schedule. A short promotional video, , was released in September. She traveled to Japan a second time in November that year, where she was enthusiastically greeted by fans at the airport. At a signing event at a bookstore, 3000 people showed up for an event with space for only 100, and the event was ended after only 20 minutes. At her appearance at the first Hiroshima Flower Festival in May 1977, she had to be taken away on a fire truck due to the number of fans overwhelming the venue.

In July 1977, she released her first single, , which sold 8,000 copies and reached #79 on the Oricon singles chart. Her first full album, ''I Am Agnes Lum'', was also released in July. That same year, she made her debut appearance on NHK's ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' variety show and on , a long-running celebrity variety show. Her second single, , was released in March 1978 along with her second and final non-collection album, ''With Love''. She appeared as "Flora" in the Toho film in February 1981.

Retirement from modeling

Lum married a childhood friend in 1986, and had twin sons born in 1987, and retired from full-time modeling work. She appeared, along with her twin sons, in a 1996 television commercial for the Daihatsu Pyzar. She has periodically made appearances in commercials and on various television shows since retiring. Photos of Lum have been featured in numerous pachinko machines, posters, calendars, advertisements, and other goods. Her twins are both married and are neighbors to Lum and her husband.

Photobooks and other works documenting her career were only released years after she retired. , with photography by Tsuyoshi Inaji, was released in July 1998. It contains photos of and essays about Lum and her family in Hawaii. ''Agnes Lum'', with photography by Kenji Nagatomo, was released in April 2000. by Kenji Nagatomo and Miho Osada was released in February 2007. September 2012 saw the release of by Kenji Nagatomo. Ten years later, , by Hogara Iketani, was released in January 2017. An ebook, by Kenji Nagatomo and Hogara Iketani, was released in July 2019.

Books

Listed chronologically.
* by Tsuyoshi Inaji (July 1998, Saibunkan, )
*''Agnes Lum'' by Kenji Nagatomo (April 2000, KK Bestsellers, )
*''Hibiscus'' (2001, Digibook, CD-ROM book)
* by Kenji Nagatomo and Miho Osada (February 2007, Chuokoron Shinsha, )
* (February 2007, Asuka Shinsha, )
* by Kenji Nagatomo (September 2012, Magazine House,
* by Hogara Iketani (January 2017, Futabasha, )
* by Kenji Nagatomo and Hogara Iketani (July 2019, Shogakukan, ebook only)

Discography

Singles

* / "I'm Agnes" (July 1977, Warner-Pioneer, L-100W)
*: Keisuke Yamagawa (lyrics), Yūzō Kayama (composition)
* / (March 1978, Warner-Pioneer, L-203W)
*: Mayo Shōno (lyrics), Masami Koizumi (composition)

Albums

*''I Am Agnes Lum'' (July 1977, Warner-Pioneer, L-11001W)
*''With Love'' (March 1978, Warner-Pioneer, L-11003W)
*''Best'' (December 2002, Pony Canyon, PCCA-01832)

Filmography

Main characters in bold.
* as herself (September 1976, Tōei Tokyo, 25 minutes)
* as Flora (February 1981, Toho, 99 minutes)

Television

Main characters in bold.
* (November 1978, Fuji TV, debut television role)
* episode 22: as Anita (January 1979, Fuji TV)
* episode 16: as Princess Agnes of the Kingdom of Toronga (August 1979, TV Asahi)
* two episodes (July 1977 and July 1980) as herself (variety show, Fuji TV)
* episode as herself (March 2000, TV Tokyo)
* as herself (December 2000, Nippon TV)
* as herself (February 2003, TBS)
* as herself (October 2003, Nippon TV)
* as herself (March 2007, Nippon TV)

References

External links

Agneslum.com
(archived a
Internet Archive
(Italian fan website)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lum, Agnes
1956 births
Native Hawaiian actresses
American female models
American expatriates in Japan
Actresses from Honolulu
American people of Native Hawaiian descent
American women singers
American musicians of Chinese descent
Japanese gravure models
Living people
Musicians from Honolulu
American beauty pageant winners
American models of Chinese descent
21st-century American women