is a Japanese journalist, television reporter, television personality, and former NHK Announcer.

Early years

Udo was born in Ijūin Town (now Hioki City), Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. 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 ...

, 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 Proje ...

, she eventually went on to

Kobe College Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, which ...

instead. She was hired by NHK 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 spr ...

'' 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'' 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 ne ...

'' 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 most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

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 is a Japanese weekday morning talk program airing on NHK General Television, hosted by Naoko Suzuki and Hanamaru-Daikichi Hakata. It airs weekdays from 8:15a.m. JST to 9:54a.m. JST. History ''Asaichi'' started on March 29, 2010, evolving fr ...

'' in 2010 with Yoshihiko Inohara, 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 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 years Omi was ...

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. The ...

. She resigned from NHK on March 31. Udo became news anchor of Nippon Television'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'' (2019), newscaster * '' Last of the Wolves'' (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