Tokyo Weekender - March 2016
Techno Legend Jeff Mills Goes Orchestral. 3/11 five years of recovering and rebuilding. Plus: Celebrating hanami with a touch of class, Yoshikazu Fujita gets ready for rugby in Rio, movies, events, and much more
Techno Legend Jeff Mills Goes Orchestral. 3/11 five years of recovering and
rebuilding. Plus: Celebrating hanami with a touch of class, Yoshikazu Fujita gets ready for rugby in Rio, movies, events, and much more
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MARCH <strong>2016</strong><br />
Japan’s number one English language magazine<br />
3/11<br />
Five Years of<br />
Recovering and<br />
Rebuilding<br />
OMOTENASHI<br />
SELECTION<br />
Products From Every<br />
Corner of the Country<br />
MAESTRO ON THE DECKS<br />
Techno Legend Jeff Mills Goes Orchestral<br />
ALSO: Celebrating Hanami with a Touch of Class, Yoshikazu Fujita Gets Ready for Rugby in Rio, Movies, Events,<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
and Much More<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
MARCH <strong>2016</strong><br />
CONTENTS<br />
24<br />
12 18<br />
22<br />
JEFF MILLS<br />
The grandfather of techno teams up with the<br />
<strong>Tokyo</strong> Philharmonic Orchestra<br />
OMOTENASHI SELECTION<br />
Combing the length and breadth of Japan<br />
to find items of unique beauty and charm<br />
FURUSATO NOZEI<br />
Give, and ye shall receive—a surprising<br />
array of gifts from around the country<br />
ROAD TO RIO<br />
Rugby man Yoshikazu Fujita gets ready for<br />
the Olympic pitch<br />
6 The Guide<br />
A few suggestions for classy springtime<br />
looks—and a perfect hanami drink<br />
8 Gallery Guide<br />
Three exhibitions featuring a trio of Italian<br />
masters: Caravaggio, Botticelli, da Vinci<br />
10 Hanami Guide<br />
Bye-bye, blue tarp and plastic cups: here’s<br />
to hanami with a touch of class<br />
20 3/11<br />
Looking back at five years of recovering<br />
and rebuilding since the triple disaster<br />
23 Ayako Ichinose<br />
The lesbian actress speaks about coming<br />
out and the state of LGBT rights in Japan<br />
26 People, Parties, Places<br />
Yoko Ono comes to town and Bill drops in<br />
at parties for Italy and Qatar<br />
30 Movies<br />
Superman and Batman come to blows and<br />
Sherlock Holmes battles old age<br />
32 Agenda<br />
Cirque du Soleil comes to town, art takes<br />
over a <strong>Tokyo</strong> hotel, and plenty more<br />
34 Back in the Day<br />
The tale of an evening spent at a<br />
mysterious palace of pleasure<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
THIS MONTH IN THE WEEKENDER<br />
Cover Photo: Jacob Khrist©©<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong><br />
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EST. Corky Alexander, 1970<br />
Published monthly at JPR Sendagaya Building 8F<br />
4-23-5 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, <strong>Tokyo</strong> 151-0051<br />
(03) 6863-3096 / (03) 5413-3050 (fax)<br />
editor@tokyoweekender.com<br />
Japan’s number one English language magazine<br />
3/11<br />
Five Years of<br />
Recovering and<br />
Rebuilding<br />
OMOTENASHI<br />
SELECTION<br />
Products From Every<br />
Corner of the Country<br />
MAESTRO ON THE DECKS<br />
Techno Legend Jeff Mills Goes Orchestral<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong><br />
ALSO: Celebrating Hanami with a Touch of Class, Yoshikazu Fujita Gets Ready for Rugby in Rio, Movies, Events,<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
and Much More<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong><br />
hrugging off our overcoats<br />
S<br />
and taking in spring as it<br />
comes to blossom on the<br />
trees around us, we’re also<br />
reminded of the shock the country felt<br />
five years back, when the earthquake<br />
and tsunami of <strong>March</strong> 11 hit the Tohoku<br />
coastline. As our conversation with two<br />
people who have dedicated themselves to<br />
reconstruction efforts shows, much has<br />
been achieved, but much yet remains to<br />
be done, and needs have changed.<br />
At the same time, the slow turn<br />
of the seasons brings plenty with it to<br />
lighten our hearts. Towards the end of the<br />
month, we can expect the yearly show of<br />
the sakura’s bloom to briefly color the<br />
city’s streets, parks, and waterways with<br />
a range of pinks. To help you make the<br />
most of your hanami experience, we’ve<br />
put together a guide to taking in the cherry<br />
blossoms in a more elegant fashion than<br />
the standard blue tarps and plastic cups.<br />
This issue, we also have the chance<br />
to sample Japan through the crafts and<br />
products that spring from every prefecture.<br />
One way to experience these various items<br />
is through an unconventional way: tax<br />
deductions. The Furusato Nozei program,<br />
which has been rising in popularity over<br />
the eight years since it was launched,<br />
allows participants to make donations<br />
to cities and towns around the country,<br />
and in turn receive gifts in the form of<br />
products from those regions.<br />
Another way to enjoy the unique<br />
varieties of artisanal Japan is through the<br />
items assembled by the OMOTENASHI<br />
Selection, a project that was introduced<br />
last year with the aim of sharing the<br />
country’s unique products and services<br />
with an international audience. We’ve<br />
picked a few of our favorites, and you can<br />
check some of them out until <strong>March</strong> 8 at<br />
Takashimaya Nihonbashi.<br />
Finally we’d like to announce the<br />
launch of <strong>Tokyo</strong> <strong>Weekender</strong>’s new parent<br />
company, ENGAWA. Together, we’re<br />
looking forward to continuing to serve as<br />
a resource for the expat community, while<br />
also reaching people who are just getting<br />
to know the country. Stay tuned.<br />
Editor<br />
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customer-support@tokyoweekender.com<br />
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Opinions expressed by <strong>Weekender</strong> contributors<br />
are not necessarily those of the publisher<br />
WRITERS WANTED<br />
<strong>Tokyo</strong> <strong>Weekender</strong> is looking for a few good writers. If<br />
you’ve got a travel story you want to share, a gift for the<br />
written word, or have a unique take on life in <strong>Tokyo</strong>, we’d<br />
like to hear from you. To join our team of freelancers,<br />
please send us an email at<br />
editor@tokyoweekender.com<br />
Published by<br />
ENGAWA Co., Ltd.<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
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the guide<br />
ETRO SILK SCARF<br />
While spring officially kicks off in<br />
<strong>March</strong>, the temperatures are still<br />
a little chilly, but we’re also ready<br />
to get rid of our heavy winter<br />
coats and fleece-lined layers. A<br />
light scarf from Italian fashion<br />
house Etro is the ideal item to<br />
slowly transition your wardrobe<br />
from winter to spring. Crafted<br />
from silk-twill and designed with<br />
an intricate paisley motif, this<br />
accessory is incredibly versatile:<br />
tie it around your neck to liven up<br />
a monochrome outfit, or wear it<br />
as a headband for a chic and easy<br />
look that channels springtime.<br />
etro.com<br />
FENDI PRINTED LEGGINGS<br />
So, apparently “athleisure” is really happening—that<br />
is, clothes that are equally appropriate<br />
for athletic or leisure pursuits. In other words,<br />
wearing your gym clothes out to brunch is now<br />
deemed acceptable. Although not every style<br />
maven is a fan of this trend, the recent designs to<br />
make an appearance on runways are difficult to<br />
resist, and we’re giving in to designer leggings.<br />
This pair from Italian designer Fendi mixes colorful<br />
apples and lightbulbs (why not), printed on<br />
supportive stretch-jersey material. Pair it with the<br />
matching top for a flamboyant look at the gym,<br />
and add a black cashmere cardigan to go on with<br />
your day post-workout. fendi.com<br />
SAINT LAURENT ENVELOPE SHOULDER BAG<br />
A designer handbag is a long-term investment, so it’s always best to pick a classic that<br />
will age flawlessly with the years. This “Envelope” bag is the perfect example of timeless<br />
sophistication and practicality. Part of the iconic “Monogramme” family, this bag is made<br />
from soft and durable leather and is embellished with the signature YSL plaque. The<br />
interior is pocketed and features card slots and a separate compartment to keep all your<br />
essentials on hand for a night out. Wear it cross-body during daytime using the chaintrimmed<br />
strap. ysl.com<br />
FAUCHON CUBE HANAMI<br />
Celebrate cherry blossom season with a French touch! Fauchon,<br />
the purveyor of all things gourmet, has put together a delectable<br />
assortment of morsels that will add a little Continental flair<br />
to any hanami party. The “Fauchon Cube Hanami” features three<br />
varieties of their bread cubes—croissant, brioche, and olive—along<br />
with three flavored spreads: fines herbes, cream cheese and paprika,<br />
and whipped butter and mustard. Also included are four glass markers,<br />
a set of utensils, and what may be the kit’s pièce de résistance: a<br />
pink picnic mat. Say au revoir to that blue tarp...<br />
How much: On sale at Takashimaya stores in Nihonbashi, Shinjuku,<br />
and Yokohama. Eight lucky Insider Club members will receive a<br />
Fauchon Cube Hanami for free: see page 5 for more details.<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
Something for the weekend...A<br />
cocktail guide for the most<br />
discerning of drinkers<br />
SMYTHSON TRAVEL SET<br />
For the globetrotter and business traveller, this chic travel set from British luxury<br />
leather brand Smythson will make those long hours spent at the airport a bit more<br />
bearable. Not only does it make it easy to stay organized while on the road, but it also<br />
lets you travel in style. The textured-leather set includes a wallet to stow all your tickets,<br />
complete with an easy-access boarding pass compartment on the side. The separate,<br />
matching passport holder will protect your most important document, and if you don’t<br />
buy it for yourself, it makes for a thoughtful gift for a jet-setting friend. smythson.com<br />
JUNYA WATANABE SOCKS<br />
A protégé of iconic designer Rei Kawakubo,<br />
Junya Watanabe has been at<br />
the head of his own men’s line since the<br />
early 2000s, while remaining part of the<br />
quintessential Japanese brand Comme<br />
des Garçons. Just like his mentor, Mr.<br />
Watanabe is renowned for his cutting-edge<br />
designs and deconstructive approach.<br />
While socks are not the ultimate<br />
fashion statement, these red cotton ones<br />
add a playful touch to any look. It’s woven<br />
with red, navy and yellow thread, and<br />
closely knitted for long-term wear, we<br />
think every man needs this essential item<br />
in their sock drawer.<br />
comme-des-garcons.com<br />
MACKINTOSH RAINCOAT<br />
Get an early start on the rainy season by<br />
sporting this hard-bonde cotton raincoat<br />
from Scottish brand Mackintosh. Aside<br />
from being waterproof, this jacket has a<br />
trim fit and a sleek appearance, so you<br />
might actually look forward to drizzly<br />
days. And since both the hood and the<br />
lining can be detached according to the<br />
weather forecast, you will be able to wear<br />
it throughout the seasons and for any<br />
occasion—it looks equally appropriate<br />
over office attire or covering weekend<br />
sportswear. mrporter.com<br />
There’s no denying it, a quick look out<br />
of the window will confirm that Spring<br />
is upon us once more. The weather<br />
is getting warmer, skirt lengths are<br />
getting shorter and winter layers are being shed<br />
all over in town in favour of altogether cooler<br />
attire. The first buds of sakura are sprouting and<br />
hanami season is officially under way.<br />
“So what is the most appropriate tipple<br />
for the season?” I hear you ask. It can be<br />
quite tiresome to bring a shaker, muddler and<br />
appropriate glassware to every picnic you go<br />
to. Neither is it desirable to be sitting on a blue<br />
tarp drinking lukewarm beer out of a can. This<br />
situation calls for a drink easy to make—and<br />
easier to serve—something you can whip up<br />
before you go out and pop into a hamper.<br />
Step forward Pimms No. 1, the official<br />
summer drink of the English middle classes.<br />
For those not familiar, Pimms is a mixed fruit<br />
liqueur that’s been around since the 1860s.<br />
Usually served over fresh chopped fruit<br />
and topped up with a mixer of your choice.<br />
Ginger ale or lemonade if you’re traditional,<br />
Champagne or Prosecco if you mean business.<br />
So pack up your hamper and throw away<br />
that blue tarp. Invest in a decent picnic rug,<br />
gather a group of like-minded souls and enjoy<br />
the fruits of Spring. Bottoms up chaps!<br />
Method:<br />
Chop up a handful of strawberries, a couple of<br />
cucumbers, one lemon and one decent-sized orange.<br />
Mix all the fruit in a bowl and a few sprigs<br />
of chopped mint. When ready to serve, add a<br />
spoonful of the mixed fruit into a tall glass, a<br />
few ice cubes, a generous splash of Pimms, and<br />
the mixer of your choice.<br />
Ingredients:<br />
–Spoonful of “Pimms Fruit” (strawberries,<br />
cucumber, orange, lemon and mint)<br />
–50ml Pimms No. 1<br />
–100ml mixer (lemonade, ginger ale,<br />
Champagne)<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
GALLERY GUIDE<br />
TOKYO GALLERY GUIDE<br />
OUR PICKS FROM THE EXHIBITIONS AROUND TOWN<br />
CARAVAGGIO AND HIS TIME: Friends, Rivals and Enemies<br />
by Luca Eandi<br />
Like Leonardo and Botticelli,<br />
Caravaggio was<br />
a brilliantly talented<br />
Italian painter renowned<br />
today as one of the great<br />
masters in Western art history.<br />
Caravaggio’s dramatic use of<br />
light and shadow puts his figures<br />
in sharp relief, and his plain<br />
realism exemplifies the Baroque.<br />
His painting style was carried on<br />
by painters not only in Italy, but<br />
throughout Europe, influencing<br />
major figures like Rembrandt<br />
and Rubens.<br />
This exhibition features<br />
roughly 50 paintings by Caravaggio,<br />
along with works by<br />
important painters that bear<br />
his influence. Original archival<br />
documents that characterize the<br />
artist’s strife-torn biography will<br />
also be on display, highlighting<br />
Caravaggio’s markedly turbulent<br />
personal life. His tumultuous<br />
run culminates with him<br />
killing a man during a quarrel<br />
and possibly being murdered<br />
himself a short time later while<br />
traveling from Naples to Rome.<br />
Notably, a long-lost Caravaggio<br />
painting is scheduled to make<br />
its world debut at the exhibition.<br />
“Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy”<br />
was discovered in 2014<br />
after its whereabouts were<br />
unknown for more than 400<br />
years. Historical documents indicate<br />
the painting was created<br />
in 1606 by Caravaggio, who at<br />
the time was on the run—after<br />
committing said murder! The<br />
exhibition’s opening coincides<br />
with the owner’s permission to<br />
publicly exhibit the painting,<br />
so Japan has the honor to be<br />
the first place in the world to<br />
display the work.<br />
Simon Vouet, The Pickpocket, 1618–20, oil on canvas, 97.5 x 134.5 cm, Firenze Pitti Palace<br />
Valentina Museum, Gabinetto Fotografico del Polo Museale Regionale della Toscana<br />
The National Museum of Western Art, <strong>Tokyo</strong><br />
Dates: <strong>March</strong> 1–June 12, <strong>2016</strong><br />
Open: 9:30 am–5:30 pm, 9:30 am–8:00 pm on Fridays, last admission 30<br />
minutes before closing, closed Mondays (except <strong>March</strong> 21, 28 and May 2)<br />
and <strong>March</strong> 22 | Web: caravaggio.jp/english.html<br />
BOTTICELLI E IL SUO TEMPO<br />
Calumny of Apelles, Sandro Botticelli, Firenze Uffizi Museum, Gabinetto Fotografico del Polo<br />
Museale Regionale della Toscana<br />
<strong>Tokyo</strong> Metropolitan Art Museum<br />
Dates: January 16–April 3, <strong>2016</strong> | Open: 9:30 am–5:30 pm, 9:30 am–8:00<br />
pm on Fridays, last admission 30 minutes before closing, closed Mondays<br />
(except <strong>March</strong> 21, 28) and <strong>March</strong> 22<br />
Web: botticelli.jp/english<br />
Early Renaissance painter<br />
Sandro Botticelli is the<br />
subject of this large-scale<br />
exhibition featuring<br />
more than twenty works tracing<br />
his artistic lineage through the<br />
15th century. Botticelli’s art is<br />
well-appreciated in Japan, largely<br />
due to scholar Yukio Yashiro’s<br />
published critique of Botticelli’s<br />
work that served as Japan’s introduction<br />
to the painter in 1925.<br />
Although contemporaries<br />
turned to naturalistic expression<br />
employing command of perspectival<br />
space and chiaroscuro,<br />
Botticelli never deviated from<br />
decorative symbolism reminiscent<br />
of medieval art and created<br />
his own timeless style. He was<br />
one of the most authentic interpreters<br />
of the culture of his time<br />
and masterfully reflected onto his<br />
art the societal changes through<br />
which he lived.<br />
While the iconic “Virgin<br />
and Child (Madonna of the<br />
Book)” is the jewel of the<br />
exhibition, visitors should take<br />
note of “La Bella Simonetta,” a<br />
portrait of Simonetta Vespucci,<br />
noted beauty of her time,<br />
which is on loan from a private<br />
collection and therefore rarely<br />
seen by the public. Botticelli<br />
masterpieces “The Birth Of<br />
Venus” and “Allegory of Spring”<br />
are noticeably missing, but<br />
“Calumny of Apelles” is present<br />
from the Uffizi Gallery, as is<br />
Palazzo Cini’s “Judgement of<br />
Paris.” Paintings by both Botticelli’s<br />
master, Filippo Lippi, and<br />
pupil, Filippino Lippi, bookend<br />
the exhibition, providing some<br />
context of the artist’s legacy.<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
GALLERY GUIDE | WEEKENDER | 9<br />
LEONARDO DA VINCI - Beyond The Visible<br />
In conjunction with Botticelli at the Metropolitan Art Museum<br />
and part of the commemoration of 150 years of diplomatic<br />
relations between Italy and Japan, the Edo-<strong>Tokyo</strong><br />
Museum is holding a special presentation of works never<br />
before seen in Japan by Leonardo da Vinci in an exhibition<br />
titled “Beyond The Visible.” The highlight of the show, “Madonna<br />
of the Yarnwinder”—an oil painting from Leonardo’s golden<br />
age in 1501—is one of only 15 paintings attributed to the quintessential<br />
Renaissance man, who was also a noted inventor,<br />
architect, sculptor and scientist, among several other fields.<br />
Alessandro Vezzosi, director of the Museo Ideale Leonardo<br />
da Vinci, is supervising the exhibition. He explains that since<br />
the “Madonna of the Yarnwinder” is privately-owned by Scotland’s<br />
Duke of Buccleuch, the painting is not as widely known<br />
as the “Mona Lisa,” although it is a comparable masterpiece<br />
exhibiting great skill and beauty.<br />
Leonardo’s original “Codex on the Flight of Birds,” comprised<br />
of 18 folios exploring the flight behavior of birds and<br />
presenting mechanisms for flight, will also be shown. These<br />
works will join seven original drawings, along with 70 prints<br />
depicting the life of Leonardo, offering the audience a chance<br />
to examine the challenges of this universal genius through<br />
models faithfully reproduced from his original plans.<br />
Edo-<strong>Tokyo</strong> Museum<br />
Dates: January 16–April 10, <strong>2016</strong><br />
Open: 9:30 am–5:30 pm, 9:30am–7:30pm on Saturdays, closed Mondays<br />
(except <strong>March</strong> 21, 28) and Tuesday, <strong>March</strong> 22<br />
Web: www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp/en/s-exhibition/<br />
「untitled」<strong>2016</strong> acrylic, watercolor pencils, dermatograph, brief 85×35cm<br />
Ryosuke Kawahira<br />
Midnight Boy<br />
Saturday 12th <strong>March</strong> - Sunday 27th <strong>March</strong><br />
Opening Hours: 12:00 - 19:00 | Closed: Mondays<br />
Opening Reception: Friday <strong>March</strong> 11th from 18:00 onwards<br />
Leonardo da Vinci, Madonna of the Yarnwinder, circa 1501, ©The Buccleuch Living<br />
Heritage Trust<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
Cherry Blossom<br />
Dining<br />
While most tend to think of hanami<br />
as a do-it-yourself, BYOB affair, there<br />
are plenty of places where you can<br />
dine and drink with a view of the pink<br />
petals. These are three of our favorites:<br />
Drop by the Palace Hotel <strong>Tokyo</strong>, and spend<br />
an elegant afternoon sipping on tea and<br />
feasting on a selection of sweets and bitesized<br />
creations, just steps away from the<br />
gorgeous sea of pink surrounding the<br />
Imperial Palace. The afternoon tea menu at<br />
the recently revamped Palace Hotel features<br />
a Japanese twist on the usual “scones<br />
and sandwiches” concept, with wagashi<br />
(traditional Japanese sweets) and matcha<br />
(green tea made from powdered leaves).<br />
palacehoteltokyo.com<br />
From <strong>March</strong> 18 to April 17, take a stroll<br />
around the gardens surrounding the popular<br />
complex. A total of 150 cherry trees await<br />
you, and they look especially magical while<br />
illuminated at nighttime. Have a glass of<br />
bubbly or another sakura-themed cocktail<br />
at the Martini Blossom open-air lounge,<br />
along with a selection of seasonal food.<br />
tokyo-midtown.com<br />
by Vivian Morelli<br />
Ditch the blue tarp mats and<br />
plastic cups and celebrate<br />
the fleeting flowers in style<br />
Nirvana New York, located in <strong>Tokyo</strong> Midtown,<br />
offers some of the best seats in the city to<br />
view the blooming buds. Not only is the<br />
modern fusion Indian food delectable and<br />
affordable, but the outdoor terrace is one of<br />
the highlights of the eatery, with plush sofas<br />
and a spectacular view of Hinoki Machi Park.<br />
nirvana-newyork-tokyo.com<br />
Making your own<br />
Hanami Bento<br />
A<br />
hanami session isn’t complete without a<br />
bento box, and while it’s easy to just pick<br />
up one at the nearby convenience store,<br />
you can add a touch of elegance by whipping<br />
up your own creation. For a true hanami<br />
taste, we suggest sticking to a classic version:<br />
chirashi sushi (rice topped with seafood), inari<br />
rolls (tofu pockets filled with rice), Japanese<br />
fried chicken, spinach and sesame salad, and<br />
fresh fruit and sweet red bean filled mochi.<br />
Have a browse on cookpad.com to find a selection<br />
of recipes, and arrange it all meticulously<br />
in a traditional lacquered box. Check out one<br />
of our favorite recipes above.<br />
cookpad.com
Recipe:<br />
Vegetable<br />
Maki<br />
Easy to make, easy<br />
to pack and pretty to<br />
look at:<br />
Cook some rice, then<br />
add a dash of vinegar, a<br />
pinch of salt and sugar<br />
and mix well. Simmer some<br />
carrots and cucumbers (or any<br />
vegetables you like) in a skillet<br />
with a bit of mirin (sweet rice<br />
wine) and soy sauce. Place<br />
one seaweed sheet on a bamboo<br />
rolling mat or wax paper.<br />
Spread rice evenly, leaving<br />
a few centimeters at the top<br />
edge. Arrange vegetables<br />
and add some daikon radish<br />
sprouts. Dampen the top edge<br />
of the seaweed with water and<br />
roll up from the bottom. Seal<br />
with the top edge, and then cut<br />
evenly into rolls. Enjoy!<br />
Rent a Kimono<br />
Gazing at the cherry blossoms while elegantly<br />
dressed in traditional wear: it doesn’t get more<br />
Japanese than this. Although the art of putting<br />
on a kimono requires a lot of time, several layers,<br />
about twenty different ties in total for it to stay put,<br />
and a professional to help you out, for a small fee<br />
you can get the full experience. You can even add<br />
hair, makeup, and a photo shoot, and strut around<br />
Meiji Shrine and the sakura trees of Yoyogi Park for<br />
a few hours.<br />
kimono-sakaeya.com<br />
Along Meguro River<br />
With approximately 800 cherry trees lining this river, it’s no surprise<br />
Meguro River attracts hordes of visitors during hanami season. Get<br />
ready to brave the crowds while you promenade along the threekilometer<br />
stretch and delight in the sights. Daytime features endless waves of<br />
pale pink, but night time is equally beautiful with the lanterns and illuminations.<br />
Local vendors sell sakura-themed cocktails, glasses of wine and street food you<br />
can enjoy along the way, in addition to all the trendy boutiques on your path.<br />
Nearest station: Nakameguro<br />
Tea Ceremony at Imperial<br />
Hotel <strong>Tokyo</strong><br />
T<br />
he<br />
Japanese tea ceremony involves a few more<br />
steps that go beyond the usual boiling, steeping<br />
and sipping. Every movement and gesture has<br />
a meaning, down to the placement of tea utensils and<br />
pairing of the bitter matcha with a sweet to achieve<br />
the perfect balance. The Imperial Hotel in <strong>Tokyo</strong>,<br />
which offers a gorgeous view of the Imperial Palace<br />
grounds and an assortment of cherry trees, regularly<br />
holds a tea ceremony experience for visitors. Make<br />
yourself comfortable, carefully watch every step, and<br />
enjoy this peaceful ritual with a gorgeous backdrop.<br />
imperialhotel.co.jp
The Japanese term omotenashi is often defined as a kind of hospitality<br />
that seeks to anticipate another’s needs, even before they are<br />
expressed. And while most of us would find it strange to think of a<br />
product as being “hospitable,” many of the items that we use on a daily<br />
basis are connected to the thought and consideration of the product<br />
designers, farmers, or artisans who helped to bring them into being.<br />
It could an item of clothing made with extraordinary<br />
attention to the materials involved, a food product made in a<br />
traditional, time-honored method, or just a small household<br />
piece that brings a smile to your face when you see it.<br />
These are the kinds of products that have been curated by the<br />
OMOTENASHI Selection, a project that brings together fine goods from<br />
around Japan and shares them with international audiences. Ninety<br />
items, drawn from thirty of the country’s prefectures, have been chosen<br />
and grouped under five categories, each representing a different facet<br />
of omotenashi, and each marked with a different icon: high-quality<br />
craftsmanship, local tradition and culture, exquisite materials, products<br />
made with a sense of humor, and items that show the unique beauty<br />
of Japan. From this group, twenty-three items were recognized for<br />
their excellence with a Gold Award. Here are a few of our favorites.<br />
Cha cha cha<br />
Uogashi-Meicha Co., Ltd.<br />
Prepared using a traditional method known as<br />
kaori mushi, these tea leaves yield a delightfully<br />
bitter brew that is yellow-gold in color, not green.<br />
Each one of these colorful triangle packages<br />
contains five little bags: three bags of “green”<br />
leaf tea, a bag of roasted tea, and a special<br />
leaf known as “Kama Iri Cha,” which has a<br />
uniquely smoky flavor.<br />
Kiseki no Ringo Karinto<br />
Hirosaki Cuisine Ltd.<br />
Karinto are crunchy snacks made with flour and<br />
tofu products, and have been beloved in Japan<br />
for centuries. Hirosaki Cuisine is putting a flavorful<br />
twist on the traditional treat, using the famous<br />
“Kisekino Ringo” from Aomori Prefecture.<br />
These apples are grown without any artificial<br />
chemicals, and impart a unique taste to<br />
these tempting morsels<br />
Wagashi Artisan’s Juice<br />
(The Fruits of Shikoku)<br />
Akanean<br />
These artisanal juices are made from three<br />
of Shikoku Island’s best known fruits: yuzu<br />
from Kochi Prefecture, and from Tokushima<br />
Prefecture, sudachi and yamamomo. The<br />
concentrated formula makes them an ideal<br />
base for hot or cold drinks, a mixer for<br />
alcoholic beverages, or as a subtle<br />
flavor for your favorite<br />
recipes.<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
TRART Mizuhiki<br />
Accessories<br />
knot standard Co., Ltd.<br />
Just because these unique accessories are<br />
made from paper, don’t think that they<br />
won’t hold up to daily wear and tear. These<br />
seemingly delicate pieces have been treated<br />
with a hypoallergenic coating made<br />
from stones that makes them water<br />
resistant, as well as an ideal accent<br />
for work days or nights out.<br />
Kouji Hada Cream<br />
ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.<br />
As it turns out, kouji, one of the primary<br />
ingredients of sake, has remarkable benefits for<br />
the skin. ROHTO Pharmaceutical and Furumachi<br />
Kouji Manufacturing have collaborated to<br />
create a kouji-based, moisturizing skin cream,<br />
which is light to the touch and has just the<br />
slightest smell of its spirited origins.<br />
a wa glass<br />
Sugahara Glassworks Inc.<br />
Although they’re designed for champagne,<br />
even plain water is given an unforgettable<br />
appearance in these exquisite glasses. They<br />
have been specially created by Sugahara<br />
Glassworks’ expert glass blowers to<br />
contain a scattering of bubbles, using a<br />
technique that brings out the beauty<br />
of the material, and anything<br />
the vessels contain.<br />
Vermicular Oven Pot<br />
Aichi Dobby LTD.<br />
A carefully handmade enameled cast-iron pot<br />
that cooks just as well as it looks. Thanks to the<br />
steam convection generated by its extremely<br />
air-tight design, it brings out the original flavors<br />
of your food. Included with each purchase is a<br />
recipe book and Japanese-style, courteous<br />
aftercare service.<br />
OMOTENASHI’S<br />
Local Charm<br />
OMOTENASHI and the<br />
Unique Beauty of Japan<br />
OMOTENASHI Made<br />
From the Very Finest<br />
Light Hearted<br />
OMOTENASHI<br />
The OMOTENASHI of<br />
Japanese Craftsmanship<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
1 KAGO-Square<br />
NOUSAKU Corporation<br />
Tin is a highly malleable metal, and the KAGO tin basket makes<br />
ideal use of this quality, with a product that can be transformed into<br />
as many shapes as you can imagine. This flexible piece is made in<br />
Toyama Prefecture’s Takaoka city, a region where metalworking has<br />
been practiced for centuries.<br />
3 T-5<br />
goromaruya Co., Ltd.<br />
Frequently served alongside green tea, usugoori has an appealing<br />
balance of sweetness and a soft consistency. T-Go is a colorful and<br />
stylishly designed take on this tea house favorite. Each hand-made<br />
piece in the set of five—sakura, green tea, yuzu, wasanbon (refined<br />
sugar), and sesame—has its own flavorful appeal.<br />
2 VEGETARE Tomato Crystal<br />
Suggescom, Inc.<br />
Forget what you know about old-fashioned tomato juice. VEGETARE<br />
Tomato Crystal offers a distilled version of the beverage, made<br />
using a method from the world of traditional sake. It takes about 10<br />
organically grown Echizen tomatoes to make one bottle of the clear,<br />
light juice, which has no additives or preservatives.<br />
4 Paperglass<br />
Nishimura Precision Co., Ltd.<br />
More than 100 steps go into the manufacture of these incredibly<br />
slim spectacles. Thanks to a patent-pending design approach that<br />
mounts the temples 20 degrees lower than normal, these reading<br />
glasses can fit perfectly on the curve of the face and fold closed to a<br />
width of 2 millimeters.<br />
5 Hito-Nomi Sake (Single-Portion Sake)<br />
TAKARAYAMA Brewing Co., Ltd.<br />
These small bottles of single-serving sake are studies in petite elegance.<br />
An award-winning sake tradition goes into each one of the 200ml<br />
vessels, but the design of the bottles have a modern appeal that make<br />
for perfect gifts or for taking out on your next hanami session.<br />
To find out more about any of the featured products please visit the official OMOTENASHI Selection website: omotenashinippon.jp/<br />
MARCH prize. <strong>2016</strong> In www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
addition, some of the items will be on sale at Takashimaya Nihonbashi’s 1st and 8th floors, from <strong>March</strong> 2 to <strong>March</strong> 8.
A GENTLE<br />
TOUCH<br />
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND MARMAILLE’S LINE OF 100% ORGANIC COTTON BABY<br />
CLOTHES? IT’S ONLY NATURAL FOR PARENTS TO WANT THE BEST FOR THEIR KIDS<br />
1<br />
1. Long-sleeve pullover<br />
(two sizes: 60–70 cm, 80–90 cm)<br />
2<br />
2. Short sleeve romper<br />
(two sizes: 60–70 cm, 80–90 cm)<br />
Baby underwear shop MARMAILLE / Bisen Co., ltd<br />
For children with extremely sensitive skin,<br />
clothes made with synthetic fabrics or dyed<br />
with harsh chemicals can be uncomfortable,<br />
or even painful to wear. Keeping their<br />
littlest customers in mind, Marmaille makes<br />
undergarments for infants, toddlers, and children, with<br />
natural comfort sewn into the smallest stitch.<br />
It begins with the thread, which is made from special<br />
100% organic extra fine cotton that has been imported<br />
from Switzerland and woven according to strict<br />
standards in the company’s factory in Nagasaki.<br />
Not satisfied with just making the main part of their<br />
garments from organic material, Marmaille ensures that<br />
even the labels and strings used for their clothes are<br />
100% organic. Finally, the garments are stitched flat,<br />
which further reduces the potential for skin irritation.<br />
Marmaille’s clothes have been chosen by the Japanese<br />
Atopic Dermatitis Association, Nippon Select, and<br />
the Nagasaki Design Award Grand Prix. They have<br />
also been recognized with a Kids Design Award. But<br />
most important for the firm is the peace of mind that<br />
families have when buying Marmaille’s 100% Organic<br />
Baby and Kids Underwear for their children.<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
AN ORGANIC<br />
TWIST<br />
THE NATURAL CONTOURS OF WOOD WERE JUST A PART OF THE INSPIRATION<br />
BEHIND THE SHAPE OF THIS CAREFULLY FASHIONED COMB<br />
Art Forme Co., Ltd.<br />
According to Hiroyuki Hashino, owner<br />
and founder of Akita Artforme,<br />
products that are made with careful<br />
consideration for their material,<br />
shape, and function produce a more<br />
beautiful and timeless result.<br />
Artforme has long been striving to create<br />
exquisitely handcrafted wooden products that<br />
reflect the long tradition of craftsmanship in<br />
Akita, yet they are always searching for new<br />
design inspiration to create truly innovative<br />
forms. One of the company’s most popular<br />
items is the Twist Hair Brush, which is both<br />
organic in form and unique in conception.<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
Twist Hair Brush<br />
This artfully shaped wooden comb won a<br />
Good Design Award in 2013 and a Tohoku<br />
Invention Award. It’s easy to see why,<br />
with its user-friendly shape and striking,<br />
unconventional appeal. The comb’s shape<br />
is known as hineri kamisuki and features a<br />
unique, three-dimensional curve—a world<br />
first, and one that produces an invigorating<br />
massage effect on the user’s scalp. It is made<br />
from a special Japanese wood called ono-orekanbo.<br />
According to legend, the wood from<br />
this 600-year-old tree is so hard that an axe<br />
would break if taken to its trunk. Of course,<br />
the Twist Hair Brush will be much gentler on<br />
your head.
EXPAT LIFE | WEEKENDER | 17<br />
Carbon Steel—<br />
Set of 2<br />
This pair of expertly crafted<br />
carbon steel blades provides<br />
you with the perfect kitchen<br />
combination: an all-purpose knife<br />
for meat and fish, and a small<br />
vegetable knife. (¥23,300)<br />
Hammered Damascus<br />
Steel—Set of 2 or 3<br />
Damascus steel knives have a unique<br />
appearance that is immediately recognizable.<br />
Available in a set of two or three,<br />
these knives come with a hard case for<br />
easy storage or transportation.<br />
(set of 2: ¥17,400, set of 3: ¥27,800)<br />
Carbon Steel<br />
wa-santoku<br />
With edges sharp and delicate enough to<br />
shave wafer-thin slices from a piece of<br />
meat or fish, Kamata Hakensha’s carbon<br />
steel knives are a perfect example of Japanese<br />
style and craftsmanship. (¥8,800)<br />
Damascus Steel with<br />
Flower Pattern<br />
The stainless, cobalt-alloy Damascus<br />
steel blade is easy to maintain and<br />
keep sharp, while the floral motif<br />
etched onto the side and the wooden,<br />
Japanese-style handle transform this<br />
practical meat and fish knife into a<br />
work of art. (¥26,800–35,800)<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
TAX BREAKS<br />
WITH BENEFITS<br />
by Louise George Kittaka<br />
Getting a tax deduction is nice, but getting an entire<br />
tuna to go with that deduction is even better<br />
If someone told you that you could get<br />
two steaks to go with a tax break, you’d<br />
probably be a bit suspicious. But that’s<br />
one of the possible benefits to be garnered<br />
from Japan’s Furusato Nozei program.<br />
Literally translated, furusato<br />
nozei means “hometown<br />
tax,” so you wouldn’t be<br />
blamed for assuming that<br />
the program didn’t apply to<br />
foreign nationals. But in fact,<br />
the program behind Furasato<br />
Nozei has little to do with a<br />
person’s hometown and isn’t a<br />
type of tax at all. What’s more,<br />
foreign residents of Japan who<br />
work and pay taxes here are<br />
just as entitled to participate as<br />
the Japanese.<br />
The program was launched<br />
in 2008 as a way for a person to make a charitable<br />
donation to a municipality or prefecture of their<br />
choice—whether or not it was their hometown.<br />
Donors can even specify the purpose for<br />
which they want the money to be<br />
used: educational projects and helping the elderly<br />
are two examples. Beyond the feel-good aspect,<br />
though, there are two benefits that make donating<br />
all the sweeter.<br />
A WIN-WIN SITUATION<br />
The first of these is that donations<br />
are tax deductible: depending on<br />
how much you donate and your<br />
household’s income, you can claim<br />
back almost the entire donation. In<br />
general, the more tax you pay, the<br />
more you can claim back under<br />
donations to the Furusato Nozei<br />
program.<br />
The other benefit wasn’t<br />
originally intended to be the main<br />
incentive for donations, but over the<br />
years it may have eclipsed the tax<br />
deduction aspect in the eye of the<br />
public: The municipalities and prefectures often<br />
send back “thank you” gifts to donors, typically in<br />
the form of local products and specialties. A tax<br />
break and return goodies into the bargain—what’s<br />
not to like?<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
Critics of the system say that the<br />
thank you gifts mean that many people<br />
are donating for the wrong reasons, thus<br />
taking away from the original spirit of<br />
the program. In fact, some municipalities<br />
make a point of refusing to send out return<br />
goods, and simply thank donors with a<br />
letter.<br />
Regardless of what the critics say,<br />
the Furusato Nozei program continues to<br />
grow. Total donations in 2012 reached ¥13<br />
billion—more than double the amount in<br />
2008, when the program began. Another<br />
thing to note is that the system helps, to<br />
some extent, to distribute wealth from the<br />
populous larger cities to more rural areas.<br />
So how can you participate? For<br />
starters, you are going to need to be<br />
fairly comfortable reading Japanese, or<br />
have a friend or family member who can<br />
help you navigate your way around the<br />
website devoted to the program, “Furusato<br />
Choice”: www.furusato-tax.jp.<br />
From here you can choose how to<br />
donate your money, based on the area, the<br />
kind of project you want to support or the<br />
type of return gift you want. There is also<br />
a special section for donations to areas hit<br />
by natural disasters and in urgent need of<br />
support. (At the time of writing, there was<br />
a call for donations to places in Ibaraki<br />
Prefecture recently hit by heavy flooding.)<br />
THE FINE PRINT<br />
Making the donations is only part of the<br />
process. In order to get a portion of your<br />
donation refunded, you will need to follow<br />
the appropriate steps. From this year, one<br />
of these includes giving information on<br />
My Number and other ID, so be prepared.<br />
There are two ways to file for your<br />
refund. For people whose taxes are filed<br />
for them by their companies, or those who<br />
Carnivores rejoice: Two kilos of sirloin steak from<br />
Mogami, Yamagata Prefecture, are yours to sink<br />
your teeth into for ¥10,000<br />
don’t need to submit paperwork to claim<br />
back money for large medical payments<br />
or house loans, the newly established<br />
“One Stop Tokurei Shinsei” option allows<br />
for donations to be credited against<br />
future residential tax payments for the<br />
following year. There are a few catches,<br />
including the fact that you can only<br />
donate to up to five different places in<br />
one calendar year, but you can give as<br />
much as you like—and as many times as<br />
you like—to each of those five locations.<br />
For the rest of us, the process of<br />
A tax break and return goodies into<br />
the bargain—what’s not to like?<br />
claiming back donations via the annual<br />
tax return is relatively simple. Donations<br />
can be noted as deductions on your<br />
return, and claimed against tax paid.<br />
One change from April last year is<br />
that the percentage of residential tax<br />
that can be claimed back was raised<br />
from 10% to 20%. According to an<br />
official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs<br />
and Communications, simply put, this<br />
means if you pay ¥100,000 annually<br />
in residential tax, you can claim back<br />
up to ¥20,000 via donations. However,<br />
he noted that the amount that can be<br />
claimed will vary according to income,<br />
your spouse’s income and the number<br />
of people in your household. (There are<br />
examples on the website of how much<br />
you can donate and how much you can<br />
expect back based on various income<br />
and household scenarios.)<br />
In order to claim any deductions,<br />
your total annual donations must total<br />
at least ¥2,000. But considering the<br />
variety of return gifts on offer, we don’t<br />
think that it will be difficult to go over<br />
that amount ... So, here’s to your new<br />
“hometowns,” and happy deducting!<br />
A GIFT THAT<br />
KEEPS ON GIVING<br />
From food to unique experiences, there<br />
are plenty of gifts on offer through the<br />
Furusato Nozei program. Here are<br />
some of the ones that caught our fancy:<br />
Mogami, Yamagata (¥10,000)<br />
2 kg sirloin steak<br />
Kitakami, Iwate (¥5,000 or more)<br />
Snow (!) from the ski fields<br />
Yaotsu, Gifu (¥500,000)<br />
Guided matsutake (gourmet<br />
mushroom) picking trip<br />
Tsubame, Niigata (¥100,000)<br />
Pair of gold tumblers<br />
Bizen, Okayama (¥30,000)<br />
Nescafé Gold Blend Barista<br />
Ogaki, Gifu (¥40,000)<br />
Paraglider excursion for one<br />
Numata, Hokkaido (¥50,000)<br />
A night for two at Horoshin<br />
Onsen Ryokan<br />
Yaizu, Shizuoka (¥500,000)<br />
An entire tuna<br />
Iga, Mie (¥50,000)<br />
Ninja outfit<br />
Fukuyama, Hiroshima (¥10,000)<br />
Bouquet of roses<br />
Suzaka, Nagano (¥20,000)<br />
Three-bottle wine set<br />
Ogimi, Okinawa (¥30,000)<br />
Hand-made shisa<br />
(lion dog) statue<br />
www.furusato-tax.jp<br />
In Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, a ¥10,000<br />
donation will net you a bouquet of roses<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
y Matthew Hernon<br />
It’s hard to believe that almost five years have passed since the Tohoku region was hit with<br />
the largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history. The tsunami that it triggered reached<br />
heights of over 40 meters, destroying northeastern coastal communities and killing nearly<br />
16,000, with more than 2,500 still unaccounted for. Following the disaster, humanitarian aid<br />
and assistance came from all corners of the globe. Today there are still many organizations<br />
and individuals doing their best to help areas that were affected, yet much still needs to be<br />
done. <strong>Weekender</strong> recently spoke to Amya Miller, the global public relations director for the<br />
town of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture, and The Nippon Foundation Senior Program<br />
Director Mitsuaki Aoyagi to hear about what they have been doing since 2011 and what they<br />
feel needs to be done in the future.<br />
Amya Miller grew up<br />
and went to school in<br />
Japan, living here until<br />
1985. She returned<br />
just over a quarter of a century<br />
later to work as an interpreter<br />
for volunteer organizations<br />
in Southern<br />
Iwate<br />
following the<br />
earthquake. Noticing the good work<br />
the American was doing and the impact<br />
she could have internationally,<br />
Rikuzentakata mayor Futoshi Toba<br />
appointed her as the global public<br />
relations director for the town which<br />
had been devastated by the tsunami.<br />
In addition to Miller’s volunteer<br />
work, she speaks at global forums,<br />
helps to promote tourism in the<br />
area, and has recently coauthored<br />
the book “Kamome: The Boat of Hope,” which tells the<br />
story of a small vessel that made its way from Tohoku<br />
to Northern California.<br />
“At the time of the earthquake I was in Boston, Massachusetts<br />
and was sound asleep. I woke up to that sense of<br />
being stared at. A friend was staying with us, and I slowly<br />
Foreigners are<br />
still a rarity in<br />
Tohoku so for many<br />
locals seeing an<br />
outsider gives them<br />
that feeling that they<br />
are not forgotten<br />
realized there was someone at the foot of my bed. She held<br />
out her cell phone sobbing, saying, ‘read this.’ I couldn’t<br />
focus, [and] was groggy and cranky, so I pushed her and<br />
the phone away.<br />
“When she finally got me awake, my response was,<br />
‘It’s not like there’s anything I can do’ and rolled over and<br />
went back to sleep. When I finally woke up, the guilt over<br />
those words was overwhelming. I’m<br />
fully bilingual, was raised here, am as<br />
bi-cultural as they come and knew I<br />
could be of help, and to have said that<br />
left me with an awful feeling. Oddly<br />
enough, it fueled me to act. I knew I<br />
could do something. I just had to figure<br />
out what it was. Although I’m American,<br />
I was born in Japan. In many ways<br />
Japan is my home. At least an adopted<br />
home. I’m emotionally connected to<br />
this place. My childhood memories are<br />
here. I knew I could be of assistance.<br />
“Initially, it was about goods and<br />
funds. There was such a huge need for people to be able to<br />
simply survive and the needs were overwhelming. Over<br />
time, it became less about goods and funds and more about<br />
mental health, policy, listening, and simply being present.<br />
Foreigners are still a rarity in Tohoku, so for many locals<br />
seeing an outsider—someone who clearly looks different—<br />
gives them that feeling that they are not forgotten. The fact<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
3/11 | FEATURE | 21<br />
Building: Rikuzentakata’s City Hall, shortly after 3/11 (Courtesy Amya Miller)<br />
that people have come from afar to help (or in<br />
my case to stay) shows locals that they really<br />
do matter.<br />
“Rikuzentakata has initiated a real push<br />
towards having foreigners visit. The city’s<br />
tourism division is serious about attracting<br />
people from abroad to the city, both as a place<br />
of learning—what to do, not to do in a disaster,<br />
how to recover—but also a place where there<br />
can be meaningful volunteer opportunities.<br />
To connect with locals through work as well<br />
as play is also an important message we’re<br />
putting out as a city. Yes, of course the money<br />
spent in the city is vital, but so are the connections<br />
made. The tourism department is pushing<br />
hard to make the city’s restaurants and<br />
lodging facilities as welcoming and receptive<br />
as possible. Foreign language signage is going<br />
up all over the city.<br />
“Visits to the region really matter to the<br />
locals. A new face, especially a foreign one,<br />
shows that someone took the time and spent<br />
the money because they wanted to see and<br />
meet locals and learn about the place. If your<br />
company has large sums of money that’s always<br />
welcome, but it’s now less about needing<br />
funds and more about needing people. Finding<br />
ways to make meaningful connections via<br />
travel is significant in the message conveyed<br />
as well as the memories it leaves behind.”<br />
(Interviewed by Alec Jordan)<br />
Established<br />
by Ryoichi<br />
Sasakawa<br />
in 1962,<br />
The Nippon Foundation<br />
is a wellknown<br />
non-profit<br />
grant-making organization<br />
that uses revenue<br />
gained from boat<br />
racing to pursue global maritime development<br />
and to fund philanthropic activities<br />
both domestically and globally. Since 2011<br />
they have provided much financial aid to<br />
victims of the earthquake and tsunami,<br />
as well as taking the lead in a number of<br />
projects aimed at improving living conditions<br />
in affected areas. Senior Program<br />
Director of the organization, Mitsuaki<br />
Aoyagi was one of the leaders of the relief<br />
team after the Great Hanshin Earthquake<br />
in 1995 and is now the chief manager for<br />
the relief effort in Tohoku.<br />
“On the day of the disaster I was off work<br />
because of a health check. After picking<br />
up my eldest child from elementary school<br />
and checking my family were all OK, I<br />
watched the horrifying images on TV thinking<br />
about what our organization could do.<br />
Simply providing<br />
money isn’t enough and I<br />
think more and more<br />
companies are beginning<br />
to realize this.<br />
Following the Great Hanshin Earthquake<br />
The Nippon Foundation provided a lot of<br />
support from a logistical perspective, but<br />
that wouldn’t be nearly enough this time.<br />
The next day we had a meeting to discuss<br />
our plan of action.”<br />
The Nippon Foundation’s early initiatives<br />
included giving cash (¥50,000) to<br />
anyone who lost a family member. Experts<br />
were sent to evacuation shelters to analyze<br />
what kind of aid was required. In some cases<br />
there was a lack of toilets, so prefabricated<br />
ones were sent from <strong>Tokyo</strong>. Pregnant<br />
ladies weren’t being sufficiently provided<br />
for, so 2,000 of them were driven to the<br />
capital where they could give birth in a<br />
safe environment. Camps were also built<br />
for families with special needs children as<br />
they were concerned about what others<br />
might think if their child became agitated<br />
during the night.<br />
“In the first two years after the<br />
tragedy, our main focus was to support<br />
organizations and individuals helping<br />
the revival in affected areas. Since 2013,<br />
however, we have worked more closely<br />
with the victims themselves, assisting<br />
them directly as they try to rebuild their<br />
lives. The fishing industry, for instance,<br />
has suffered greatly since the disaster. We<br />
convey our know how and knowledge to<br />
fishermen, not just in terms of production,<br />
but also processing, circulation and<br />
sales. It’s about developing leaders who<br />
can stand on their own two feet and make<br />
a profit.<br />
“We have also collaborated with a<br />
number of companies such as Kirin, Johnson<br />
& Johnson and Daimler. These corporations<br />
have made huge contributions to<br />
the affected areas, helping to revive both<br />
industries in the area and communities as<br />
a whole. Johnson & Johnson, for example,<br />
trained mental health care workers who<br />
had been hired by local administrations,<br />
despite, in most cases, having little or<br />
no experience. They created a structure<br />
where the workers could visualize the<br />
psychological damage that living in temporary<br />
accommodation for a long period<br />
can have on individuals.<br />
“While great progress has been made<br />
over the past five years, many tough<br />
challenges lie ahead. Rural depopulation,<br />
already an issue before 2011, has been<br />
greatly exacerbated since the earthquake<br />
and tsunami. With other districts in Japan<br />
expected to face similar troubles over the<br />
next few decades, the Tohoku region can<br />
lead the way in showing how best to deal<br />
with this kind of problem. In order for<br />
that to happen it needs the effort of NGOs,<br />
big corporations, regional offices, and the<br />
spirit of local people all pulling together<br />
in the same direction. Simply providing<br />
money isn’t enough and I think more and<br />
more companies are beginning to realize<br />
this. The direction has changed over<br />
time. In year one it was all about relief, in<br />
year two reconstruction—now it is about<br />
rebuilding communities.”<br />
Rikuzentakata’s “Miracle Pine” (Wikimedia)<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
22 | SPORT | ROAD TO RIO<br />
FUJITA<br />
EXPRESS<br />
by Sam De Roeck<br />
The youngest member of the Japanese Olympic rugby<br />
side looks ahead to a strong showing in Rio<br />
Participating in the Olympics is a<br />
dream for many, but for Yoshikazu<br />
Fujita it is soon to be a reality.<br />
His sport is rugby sevens, which is<br />
returning to the Olympics after a ninety-two<br />
year absence.<br />
The Waseda University flier is the<br />
youngest person to be chosen for Japan’s<br />
fifteen-a-side and sevens teams. He was told<br />
of his inclusion in a typically understated<br />
manner, through a note written by his club<br />
coach and handed to him during a meeting.<br />
He laughs when asked who he told first, “I<br />
told my family through LINE and called my<br />
mom; I spoke to her first. My dad found<br />
out through Facebook.” Both his mother<br />
and father are respected athletes in their<br />
own right. His mother played basketball in<br />
high school and his father currently runs<br />
a rugby academy, having played for a top<br />
eight team in high school. His inclusion<br />
to the Brave Blossoms is as important to<br />
his family as it is to him, explaining that<br />
“mom always wanted to raise an Olympian,<br />
regardless of the sport.”<br />
With such high expectations it was a<br />
relief when sevens was reintroduced, but<br />
Rugby requires team<br />
effort and communication;<br />
it represents the true<br />
spirit of sportsmanship.<br />
There is camaraderie<br />
from both sides.<br />
rugby was not his first sport. “I actually<br />
tried out for baseball when a friend invited<br />
me to go try out in exchange for a hamburger,<br />
but I decided to switch to rugby<br />
since my dad played rugby in high<br />
school.” Luckily for Japan he prizes<br />
winning over fast food, something<br />
that motivates him even now as<br />
he has lost four kilograms to slim<br />
down for the faster format.<br />
It is this dedication to speed<br />
and fitness that Japanese players<br />
are often praised for, but Fujita<br />
recognizes there is more to the<br />
sport than fast feet and quick<br />
hands. Defense has been of particular<br />
interest for coaches Wataru<br />
Murata and Kensuke Iwabuchi<br />
since February 15, when the<br />
extended squad begin training together.<br />
But their exacting preparation also<br />
comes with a sense of uncertainty. The rugby<br />
venue has been moved several times, from<br />
Estádio São Januário to the Olympic Stadium<br />
and now to the Deodoro Zone, a park that<br />
will host other events including the modern<br />
pentathlon. With a new venue and an untested<br />
ground, Fujita is minding the details.<br />
“[The ground] might be muddy and slippy<br />
compared to fields in Japan where it tends to<br />
be firm. It will be harder to get a good grip.”<br />
In the meantime he is working hard to get<br />
the best out of his body, waking up early for<br />
fitness and weight training—a tough threehour<br />
workout—before moving on to the rest<br />
of his day.<br />
Expectations for the Olympics will be<br />
high after the recent success in rugby’s biggest<br />
tournament. It is pressure he is acutely<br />
aware of. “We need to build up momentum<br />
toward the 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020<br />
Olympics,” he says.<br />
Both are being held in Japan and with<br />
the increasing profile of the World Sevens<br />
Series it is a great time for Japanese kids to<br />
start playing the sport, which he is keen to<br />
encourage. “Rugby requires team effort and<br />
communication; it represents the true spirit<br />
of sportsmanship. There is camaraderie from<br />
both sides.”<br />
It is this teamwork that secured Japan<br />
a memorable first win over South Africa<br />
during their World Cup campaign. It was<br />
an important victory, one that continues to<br />
motivate them, and when asked about the<br />
possibility of medals he is optimistic. “No<br />
one expected Japan to be able to beat South<br />
Africa but we did. Japan can overcome the<br />
obstacles and achieve the unthinkable.” It<br />
remains to be seen whether the sevens team<br />
can replicate the success of their peers, but<br />
with some luck Fujita can help his team to a<br />
historic medal and inspire those looking to<br />
compete for Japan in four years’ time.<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
Photos courtesy of Waseda University Rugby Football Club
A LOVE<br />
AYAKA ICHINOSE | INTERVIEW | 23<br />
OF EQUALITY<br />
Tuning into the state of same-sex rights with model turned LGBT commentator Ayaka Ichinose<br />
A<br />
year ago this month <strong>Tokyo</strong>’s<br />
Shibuya Ward became the<br />
first municipality to recognize<br />
same-sex marriage<br />
in Japan. Setagaya District<br />
soon followed suit and in the near future,<br />
the cities of Iga in Mie and Takarazuka<br />
in Hyogo will also be issuing partnership<br />
certificates for gay couples.<br />
It’s a step in the right direction as far<br />
as the LGBT community is concerned, but<br />
how much of an impact will these measures<br />
actually make? <strong>Weekender</strong> recently<br />
spoke to social commentator and former<br />
gravure idol Ayaka Ichinose to hear her<br />
opinion. Last April she unofficially married<br />
actress Akane Sugimori in Shinjuku.<br />
“People often ask us why we don’t we<br />
move to Shibuya or Setagaya, but the fact<br />
is last year’s ruling holds little weight,”<br />
she says. “Certificate or not, gay couples<br />
still have no rights when it comes to key<br />
issues like adoption or a partner’s inheritance.<br />
Therefore, from a legal perspective<br />
nothing has really changed.<br />
“That’s not to say there aren’t positives.<br />
It’s a form of recognition and couples with<br />
these certificates—we are led to believe—<br />
will not be discriminated against when it<br />
comes to property rentals or hospital visits.<br />
In my opinion, though, the best thing about<br />
it is that it’s got people talking. You’re hearing<br />
more about it on the news, TV shows<br />
and even in parliament. Hopefully it’ll lead<br />
to further reforms and eventually same-sex<br />
marriages being legalized here.”<br />
It could be a long process. While Article<br />
14 of the constitution states that “All of the<br />
people are equal under the law,” Article<br />
24 stipulates that “Marriage shall be based<br />
only on the mutual consent of both sexes.”<br />
Last year Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who’s<br />
made no secret of his desire to revise the<br />
Certificate or not gay<br />
couples still have no rights<br />
when it comes to key<br />
issues. Therefore, from a<br />
legal perspective nothing<br />
has really changed.<br />
pacifist constitution, said altering the<br />
charter to allow same-sex marriages would<br />
require extremely cautious consideration<br />
because it “concerns the foundations of<br />
how families in our country should be.”<br />
Compared to many European nations,<br />
public support in Japan remains low, but<br />
appears to be growing. A poll taken by research<br />
agency IPSOS in 2013 revealed that<br />
out of over 1,000 respondents 24% were in<br />
favor of same-sex marriages with a further<br />
27% favoring some form of legal recognition.<br />
Two years later those numbers rose to<br />
30% and 28% respectively. Not a huge rise,<br />
but an increase nonetheless.<br />
A similar survey taken last year by the<br />
National Institute of Population and Social<br />
Security revealed that 51.1% supported gay<br />
marriage. However, more than half of the<br />
respondents also said they wouldn’t be supportive<br />
of a friend if they found out that<br />
he or she were homosexual. Ichinose’s<br />
not surprised by the results. “Japan is<br />
a very safe and polite country on the<br />
surface, but behind that there’s a darker<br />
side,” she says. “There are prejudices<br />
here and that’s one of the reasons why<br />
the suicide rate is high.”<br />
The 35-year-old entertainer, who last<br />
year interviewed lesbian actress Ellen<br />
Page, told us she’s received a mixture of<br />
positive and discriminatory comments<br />
since coming out publicly in 2009, but has<br />
no regrets whatsoever about the decision.<br />
“I was a gravure idol so my agent thought<br />
I’d lose work. While that has turned out to<br />
be true it wasn’t going to stop me. It was<br />
such a relief when I came out. I’ve met<br />
many people in (Shinjuku’s famed gay<br />
district) Ni-chōme, including celebrities,<br />
who’ve hidden their sexuality and you can<br />
see the frustration it causes.”<br />
It was in Ni-chōme where Ichinose met<br />
musical star Akane Suginori. Following a<br />
whirlwind romance the couple decided<br />
to tie the knot in a lavish ceremony in<br />
the spring of 2015 and are hoping that<br />
someday their marriage will be legally<br />
recognized. “The law changed in America<br />
last year and we’re usually 20-30 years<br />
behind them on issues like this so it might<br />
take that long,” Ichinose says. “It’s a tough<br />
battle, but we’ll keep on fighting.”<br />
Ichonose’s book, “ビアン 婚 Bian Kon, (Lesbian<br />
Wedding),” just came out last month.<br />
by Matthew Hernon<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
T<br />
by Kyle Mullin<br />
After decades of pioneering work at the<br />
forefront of electronic music, the legendary<br />
Jeff Mills comes to <strong>Tokyo</strong> to perform<br />
alongside a symphonic orchestra<br />
he conductor’s baton bobs back and forth, while<br />
the cellists draw their bows across their strings,<br />
playing in perfect rhythm with the underlying …<br />
techno beat?<br />
That’s right: pioneering DJ Jeff Mills has masterfully<br />
teamed the seemingly disparate worlds of electronic and classical<br />
music, performing his 2013 album “Where Light Ends”<br />
with various orchestras around the world, the next being<br />
<strong>Tokyo</strong>’s Philharmonic. It’s the latest feat in an already storied<br />
career. Techno fans consider him a grandfather of the genre,<br />
thanks to his cofounding of the steadfastly antiestablishment<br />
Underground Resistance DJ tribe in the late 80s, the unvarnished<br />
industrial-esque sound that he and his peers perfected,<br />
scoring and starring in French filmmaker Jacqueline Caux’s<br />
experimental film “Man From Tomorrow,” and more. And<br />
while some might assume that his ongoing orchestral project<br />
might be his greatest challenge yet, the Detroit turntable<br />
virtuoso insists that it’s actually quite easy to perform.<br />
“You literally have a stage full of masterful musicians,<br />
along with you and a conductor and an arranger. So making<br />
it work structurally isn’t a problem,” Mills tells <strong>Weekender</strong><br />
ahead of his <strong>March</strong> 21 performance with the <strong>Tokyo</strong> Philharmonic<br />
Orchestra at Bunkamura Orchard Hall, which marks<br />
his debut orchestral collaboration in Japan. Mills says his<br />
true struggle during these performances is “the acoustics between<br />
electronic music, which fully fills the stereo field from<br />
left to right, and an orchestra of 80 musicians that are using<br />
that air to create sound. We are very careful to not have the<br />
electronic music drown out the orchestra, but finding that<br />
balance is quite difficult.”<br />
Below, Mills tells us about the potential solution to that issue,<br />
the common misconceptions about his early DJing days in<br />
Detroit, and how even dance floor masters like himself have a<br />
deep respect for their Japanese audiences.<br />
Jacob.Khrist©<br />
SO HOW DO YOU FIX THESE ACOUSTIC ISSUES?<br />
We’re very careful to work on the acoustics of the venue,<br />
and we have found quite a bit of success with keeping the<br />
balance. But it’s still difficult. I’m working on other solutions.<br />
One might be to not mic the orchestra, and make my setup<br />
self-contained. That means the sound from my machines<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
People are giving up<br />
on this idea that music<br />
should be a particular<br />
way, and they have<br />
patience to hear<br />
something new<br />
would come from speakers that are near me,<br />
but not near the harp or the piano or things<br />
like that. We still have some work to do to<br />
make this process easier.<br />
IS THAT THE BIGGEST ADJUSTMENT<br />
TO MAKE?<br />
Well, another things stems from the fact<br />
that I wrote the music. So when you hear<br />
the cello play a line, it’s what I wrote. And<br />
that’s so different from playing as a DJ for<br />
an audience. When I’m up there with the<br />
orchestra, I’m really inside the music, surrounded<br />
by musicians, and I can hear the<br />
double bass play his part right next to me;<br />
the cello too.<br />
And being up on the stage is very<br />
different from being in the audience. The<br />
audience hears the orchestra as a whole.<br />
But I can’t hear the violins on the other side<br />
as well as you can. There are other instruments<br />
that I don’t hear at all, and every<br />
orchestral player is in the same situation.<br />
We’re really like a machine working together,<br />
so that the audience gets what it should.<br />
STILL, IT WOULDN’T OCCUR TO MOST<br />
ARTISTS TO MIX CLASSICAL AND TECH-<br />
NO. WHAT GAVE YOU THE IDEA?<br />
It was an idea a lot of us had, that went back<br />
to the mid-80s. I remember talking with lots<br />
of other DJs about how some electronic compositions<br />
would be perfect for an orchestra.<br />
And I remember [Derrick May’s] “Strings<br />
of Life” was always one that people would<br />
refer to as an obvious good fit. I didn’t see<br />
João Messias©<br />
any real possibility to do<br />
it until much later.<br />
In my circle, we were<br />
always on the lookout<br />
for signs of where this<br />
genre could be going.<br />
In the earlier days of<br />
techno and rave, the<br />
late 80s to mid 90s,<br />
anything beyond large<br />
gatherings and music<br />
was rarely discussed.<br />
But I know Mike Banks<br />
[a fellow techno producer<br />
with whom Mills founded the<br />
Underground Resistance music<br />
label] and we always discussed<br />
new sounds and new directions. We’d<br />
always experiment.<br />
ONE OF YOUR MOST INTERESTING EX-<br />
PERIMENTS OCCURRED DURING YOUR<br />
FAMOUS RESIDENCY AT THE NECTO,<br />
WHEN YOU PERFORMED IN THE CROWD<br />
INSTEAD OF UP ON A STAGE.<br />
That’s a bit of a misconception. It was<br />
actually more for practical reasons. The<br />
venue felt like it was three stories high,<br />
and they had put the DJ booth almost two<br />
stories above the audience. So I suggested<br />
that we try to make something to help me<br />
be downstairs, with the people. After that<br />
I could reinforce the music, depending on<br />
what I wore or what setup I had.<br />
It was a quite an interesting time. I<br />
was very young, and I played 3-4 days a<br />
week, and had to think of new things to do<br />
all the time. The labels didn’t have a sense<br />
of what DJs would need, because they<br />
were still making music for radio, so it was<br />
really rare to find extended mixes, and<br />
even rarer to find straight beats and percussion.<br />
You had to make it up yourself,<br />
and that made each DJ very different from<br />
one another.<br />
ARE YOU NOSTALGIC FOR<br />
THOSE DAYS?<br />
No, but I can sense there are a lot of<br />
similarities between now and then. Like<br />
then, there is a certain amount of the<br />
public that is quite willing to accept new<br />
things. I and many other DJs can feel that<br />
too. It could be that after so many years<br />
of hearing so much music, people are<br />
giving up on this idea that music<br />
should be a particular way,<br />
and they have patience to<br />
hear something new.<br />
ARE THERE OTHER<br />
ADVANTAGES TO<br />
THIS ERA? HAVE<br />
EQUIPMENT<br />
AND GEAR<br />
EVOLVED<br />
ENOUGH TO<br />
MAKE IT<br />
EASIER FOR<br />
YOU TO EX-<br />
PERIMENT?<br />
Not really.<br />
JEFF MILLS | FEATURE | 25<br />
I use two Roland TR-909s during these<br />
orchestral performances, and that’s basically<br />
it. One is for playing manually, and the other<br />
has patterns that need to be tied to the tempo<br />
and the BPM. So I have two separate ways<br />
to play two different sounds from the same<br />
machines. That lets me give the impression<br />
that the drum pattern fractured and came<br />
apart, then I can play it manually and have it<br />
come back together again. You can’t program<br />
that on a single machine.<br />
But I have yet to find a machine that<br />
would allow me to play, other than a 909.<br />
So about two years ago, I decided to make a<br />
machine especially to play and not program,<br />
not with buttons and knobs but something<br />
that I could hit or play. I worked with an<br />
industrialist named Yuri Suzuki. He’s a very<br />
well known Japanese instrument maker who<br />
lives in London. He and I have only tested<br />
the machine once, but we’re hoping to use it<br />
for some projects this year.<br />
ASIDE FROM SUZUKI, WHO DO YOU<br />
ADMIRE IN JAPAN’S MUSIC COMMU-<br />
NITY? DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE<br />
TOKYO DJS?<br />
I won’t name any names. But the Japanese<br />
scene, in general, is actually one that many<br />
Western DJs have always watched. It was<br />
always one that we understood as being<br />
uncompromising, and closer to the truth<br />
than anywhere else. If a Japanese audience<br />
asked you to come, it’s probably because<br />
they have studied and listened closely to<br />
what you do, and they think you can<br />
do something special. A lot of us<br />
still see that as a very special<br />
measurement.<br />
Jeff Mills X <strong>Tokyo</strong> Philharmonic<br />
Orchestra will be<br />
performing at Bunkamura<br />
Orchard Hall on<br />
Monday, <strong>March</strong> 21, at<br />
4:30 pm.<br />
João Messias©<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
Yoko Ono and the State Minister<br />
of Foreign Affairs, Yuji Muto<br />
<strong>Tokyo</strong>’s Longest Running<br />
My sincerest thanks to a very kind and giving friend,<br />
Lilo Maruyama. She’s often traveling, and one of the<br />
busiest ladies I know. Even so, she didn’t forget our talk<br />
about visiting another very special lady, Grace Saito.<br />
Grace, who’s 83 now, is in a retirement home here in <strong>Tokyo</strong> and<br />
unfortunately isn’t able to get out and about very much. I’ve had the<br />
privilege of knowing her for many years, and have helped whenever<br />
I could on her many charity projects. She’s also helped me with<br />
many of my charity projects, including several that I work with in the<br />
Philippines. Many of you know Grace through her years of sponsoring<br />
classical music concerts in beautiful venues in many of our top<br />
hotels as well as other prestigious venues. Grace’s love of classical<br />
music and charming personality helped her get many of Japan’s most<br />
famous musicians and opera singers to volunteer to participate in the<br />
concerts. The venues were always full of music lovers, who included<br />
royalty, diplomats and their wives, and the cream of both Japanese<br />
and international society.<br />
Grace has two light and bright rooms on the sixth floor of the ultra<br />
modern Orix retirement home in Shibaura. Her apartment, which<br />
has a view of <strong>Tokyo</strong> Bay, was full of flowers, stuffed animals and other<br />
gifts her many friends had sent or brought when they visited. Her<br />
residence is located on Shibaura Island and the telephone number is<br />
03-3798-4401.<br />
I had another unexpected reunion with two friends I hadn’t seen<br />
for a long time. That same day, Lilo had been to a ladies’ lunch that<br />
day, and met Okuda-san, the widow of my doctor for my first ten<br />
years in Japan. Dr. Okuda ran the clinic in the Imperial Hotel. He had<br />
a very international mindset and had a great personality.<br />
This was the ladies’ first meeting and Lilo had invited her to have<br />
coffee at the Grand Hyatt. We had the table near the entrance to the<br />
Society Page with Bill Hersey<br />
hotel’s popular Fiorentina restaurant/café, and in came Japan’s<br />
legendary fashion designer, Hanae Mori. I hadn’t seen her since the<br />
Bastille Day reception at the French Embassy last year. Our table with<br />
three of <strong>Tokyo</strong>’s chicest women really attracted a lot of attention and<br />
most of us like that once in a while.<br />
YOKO ONO AT THE LOPEZ HOME<br />
Philippines Ambassador Manuel Lopez and his wife Maria Teresa just<br />
never slow down, and always come up with new interesting happenings.<br />
The most recent took place one evening at their beautiful official residence,<br />
the Kudan, an art-filled home near Yasukuni Shrine.<br />
The house—originally designed by an eccentric architect—is one of<br />
the few remaining examples of early 20th century Iberian architecture<br />
in its original forms. It was originally owned by the Yasuda family and<br />
was the official accommodation for many ambassadors during their<br />
posting in Japan. The reception at the house was to celebrate the launching<br />
of the beautiful book, “History and Heritage of the Kudan.” The book<br />
was designed and produced by Artpostasia, and is cover-to-cover full of<br />
history and great photos.<br />
As always Manuel and Maria Teresa’s timing was perfect. Yoko Ono,<br />
who spent much of her childhood with members of the Yasuda family in<br />
the Kudan, was in Japan for an exhibition of her work titled “From My<br />
Window” at the Museum of Contemporary Art <strong>Tokyo</strong>. Yoko made a short<br />
and very meaningful speech, emphasizing that it is important that we<br />
pursue what makes us happy and that we show kindness to others. She<br />
also talked a lot about world peace and the problems of the world today.<br />
I’ve known Yoko for years and always liked her. I actually met her<br />
many years ago in London when some fashion biz friends there took me<br />
to her exhibition of “toilet seat art” and have spent some time with her<br />
over the years. The most memorable was many years ago when I spotted<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
PEOPLE, PARTIES, PLACES | SOCIETY | 27<br />
Qatar Amb. Yousef Mohamed Bilal, his staff, and some of<br />
the many international children there that evening<br />
Dewi Sukarno, guest, actress/dancer Hattori Mako, and her mother Takeko<br />
Jamilah Khamis (Yemen), Jamila Bilal (Qatar), Shafik<br />
Haddad (Jordan)<br />
Qatar National<br />
Day Reception<br />
Dominican Republic Amb. Hector Paulino Dominguez,<br />
his wife Andrea<br />
Dewi Sukarno and Japanese pop singer Youki Shimaji<br />
Yoko Ono<br />
at the Philippines<br />
Embassy<br />
Kuwaiti Amb. Abdul-Rahman Al-Otaibi, his wife Jamilah,<br />
Maria Teresa Lopez, Lilo Maruyama, her son Helge<br />
Maria Teresa Lopez, Yoko Ono<br />
Katsunobu Kato, Yoko Ono, Amb. Lopez, Mme. Lopez, and<br />
Yoji Muto<br />
Jan Mariano, Tourism attaché Gwendolyn Garcif,<br />
Philippines Chief of Mission Gilberto Asugue<br />
Jamaican Amb. Clement Allicock, staff members of the Philippines Embassy, Yoko Ono<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
28 | SOCIETY | PEOPLE, PARTIES, PLACES<br />
Top Japanese chef Yuki Hattori, Maki Yamamoto<br />
Walter Scott, Duke of Dalkeith; his wife; Scottish Duke of Buccleuch Richard Walter John Douglas Scott<br />
Italian Amb. Domenico Giorgi with special advisor to the<br />
Imperial family, Nobutake Odano and his wife Tamayo<br />
Institute of Culture and Diplomacy president Seiichi and<br />
Mrs. Kondo<br />
Richardo Riccioni (San Marino), Instituto di Cultura Italia’s Giorgio<br />
Armitrano, Kyoko Spector, San Marino Amb. Manilio Cadeto<br />
The Giorgis’<br />
Cultural Evening<br />
Former Japanese Amb. to Italy Masaharu and Mrs.<br />
Kohno<br />
In & Around<br />
Brazil Amb. Andre Aranha and Mrs. Corres do Lago with<br />
Rita Giorgi (Italy)<br />
Dewi and Ela Bielecki<br />
Former South African Amb. Mohau N. Pheko at Nat’l Azabu<br />
Get your free hugs at Shibuya Crossing<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
PEOPLE, PARTIES, PLACES | SOCIETY | 29<br />
her at a table in the lobby coffee shop of what was then the <strong>Tokyo</strong><br />
Hilton (now Capitol <strong>Tokyo</strong>). I went over and said, “Hi—and what are<br />
you doing here?” She remembered me from London, and said “John’s<br />
over at reception, trying to get us a room, but they don’t seem to want<br />
us here.” Next thing I know John Lennon came to our table, shook<br />
hands with me and told Yoko, “They don’t want us.” He was really cool<br />
and when I offered to try and help, he thanked me and said, “Thanks<br />
so much but no thanks. If they don’t want us we can stay at the Okura,”<br />
and that’s what they did for several weeks.<br />
She’s always been cool—and a truly interesting woman. If you<br />
have the chance, pick up the Pirelli Calendar and check her out. Annie<br />
Leibovitz did the photos and Yoko’s wearing a lot of sequins and<br />
really short shorts. She’s in her early 80s and has legs like a Broadway<br />
dancer in her prime. I also recommend you pick up a copy of “History<br />
and Heritage of the Kudan.” It really is a very special book. Congratulations<br />
to all our friends from the Philippines on the 60th anniversary<br />
of diplomatic relations between their country and Japan.<br />
THE GIORGIS’ SUPER CULTURAL RECEPTION<br />
It was really a very special evening in every way at Italian Ambassador<br />
Domenico Giorgi and his wife Rita’s beautiful and beautifully<br />
decorated home. The design of the residence, the luxurious and<br />
so comfortable Italian furniture, and the two great wood burning<br />
fireplaces, along with one of our city’s most beautiful gardens add up<br />
to one of <strong>Tokyo</strong>’s finest. Rita, the epitome of chic fashion looked great<br />
in a classy Italian-Japanese ensemble (Issey Miyake), and Domenico<br />
was, as always, an uomo classico.<br />
This year Italy and Japan celebrate 150 years of diplomatic relations.<br />
The party that evening was to celebrate one of the most prestigious<br />
and popular events for the celebration—the opening of two exhibitions—one<br />
of paintings by Botticelli at the Edo-<strong>Tokyo</strong> Museum, and<br />
the other by Leonardo da Vinci at the <strong>Tokyo</strong> Metropolitan Museum in<br />
Ueno. The guests that evening were an interesting mix of government<br />
officials, diplomats and cultural leaders, especially those who really<br />
know Italian art. I really enjoyed meeting and chatting with former<br />
Japanese Ambassador to Italy Masaharu and Mrs. Kohno, who I discovered<br />
are my neighbors. The Scottish Duke, who’s the owner of the<br />
Leonardo painting, was fun and easy to talk to. I told him how much<br />
I enjoyed the AXN historical Scottish TV series “Outlanders,” and he<br />
told me they were going to be shooting at one of his properties—The<br />
Pink Castle—in a few weeks. The world gets smaller.<br />
The buffet of Italian favorites was excellent, and the ambiance was<br />
warm and relaxed. Many of the guests, including me, stayed well past<br />
the time it was scheduled to end. It was a great evening in every way.<br />
QATAR NATIONAL DAY PARTY—THE IMPERIAL HOTEL<br />
On the occasion of the national day for the accession of Sheikh<br />
Jassim Bin Mohamed Bin Thani, the founder of the state of Qatar, to<br />
the rule of the country, Qatar Ambassador Yousef M. Bilal<br />
and his wife Jamila hosted a glittering reception at the<br />
Imperial Hotel.<br />
The huge venue was wall-to-wall people with long<br />
tables everywhere groaning under trays of a variety of<br />
Arab, Japanese and Western dishes. The crowd was many nationalities,<br />
and all ages. They included a large group of beautiful kids from<br />
many countries.<br />
The program included a welcome speech by the Ambassador,<br />
and a congratulatory speech by a Japanese dignitary. The entertainment<br />
during the party was an excellent program of Japanese<br />
and international music. I was happy to see long-time friend, the<br />
actress/dancer Hattori Mako, whom I first got to know when she<br />
was shooting a film called “Ghost in Kyoto.” Mako also studied traditional<br />
Japanese dance and performed that evening. In talking with<br />
her after her show, I heard that her daughter, Emma, who’s a real<br />
beauty and went to hotel school in Vegas, had married a football<br />
player from Arizona State University and they were now living in<br />
Toronto where he was coaching. Emma used to hang out at a disco I<br />
ran in Roppongi for 30 years. She always livened things up.<br />
The evening had a dynamic ending when a group of Arab students<br />
all in national costume got on stage and did their traditional<br />
dances. It was a great evening. I, by the way, thanks to a little girl in<br />
a kimono, pulled my name card out of a box we were asked to put<br />
our cards in at the entrance. Dewi Sukarno had told me to do that,<br />
and what a great surprise it was when I won a roundtrip Narita–<br />
Osaka–Doha flight on Qatar Airlines. Talk about being lucky!<br />
ANOTHER GREAT EVENING AT OAKWOOD<br />
Dropped by Oakwood Premier in Midtown on one of their recent<br />
Thursday “Wine Nights.” I don’t drink, but I was sure there would<br />
be friends there, and something interesting would be going on. I<br />
was right as Konishiki, his gorgeous wife Chie, and other interesting<br />
people were there. On the cultural side, a group of costumed<br />
Japanese men wandered around the lounge and performed the<br />
traditional Shinshimai which is sometimes called the Lion Dance. It<br />
was, as always, a colorful fun event at Oakwood.<br />
Our congratulations to Oakwood on the opening of their beautiful<br />
new Oakwood Premier <strong>Tokyo</strong> near <strong>Tokyo</strong> Station. We’ll have<br />
photos of their super-chic opening next column.<br />
THINGS TO DO<br />
If you or any of your friends (girls only) have thought about being<br />
in a beauty contest, this may be your chance. My good friend Steven<br />
Haynes just became the National Director for the Miss Supranational<br />
Japan Contest which will be held in Sonic City in Omiya here in<br />
Japan on May 5. In addition to being what many consider the most<br />
talented (and nicest) gaijin here in Japan, Steve is also one of the<br />
busiest—and he really knows what he’s doing. If you feel you’re<br />
ready for your chance at fame, or at least an interesting experience,<br />
call Steven at 03-3410-6615 or 090-1730-7212.<br />
I’ve always been a fan of the band Coldplay, and even partied<br />
with them here in <strong>Tokyo</strong> a few times, good guys all—and good<br />
sounds as well. I love their latest music video “Adventures<br />
of a Lifetime” (Warner Bros. Music) where they’re all<br />
dressed up in “Planet of the Apes” drag and really<br />
enjoying themselves. Check it out and you’ll see what<br />
I mean.<br />
Hiro, Daisuke and Mari at Shibuya<br />
Segafredo<br />
Konishiki, his wife Chie and Father Grimm<br />
at Oakwood Premier Midtown<br />
Italian Friends Nicole Griecco and<br />
Maurizio Zumrano at Hiroo Segafredo<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
COMING TO A CINEMA NEAR YOU IN MARCH<br />
MAR 25<br />
BATMAN V SUPERMAN:<br />
DAWN OF JUSTICE<br />
Not even Spider-Man can trump the<br />
Man of Steel and the Dark Knight<br />
in terms of enduring popularity<br />
and global impact. Now these two iconic<br />
figures are going head-to-head on our<br />
cinema screens for the first time ever,<br />
whilst also setting the groundwork for a<br />
sprawling new DC film universe to rival<br />
that of the all-conquering Marvel. Ben<br />
Affleck dons Batman’s dark cowl for the<br />
first time and he’s got serious questions<br />
about the intentions of the seemingly<br />
benign yet staggeringly powerful alien<br />
interloper who’s appeared among us.<br />
Henry Cavill returns to his Man of Steel<br />
role as Clark Kent/Superman, along with<br />
Amy Adams as Lois Lane. Jesse Eisenberg<br />
will be pulling our heroes’ strings as archnemesis<br />
Lex Luther. Even Wonder Woman,<br />
in the form of Israeli actress and model<br />
Gal Gadot, makes her first big-screen<br />
appearance. Zack Snyder, a director known<br />
more for flashy visuals than substance and<br />
storytelling, takes the reins of a film that<br />
puts the fate of the entire world, and a new<br />
film franchise, at stake.<br />
THE DANISH GIRL<br />
MAR 18<br />
Eddie Redmayne won a Best Actor<br />
Oscar last year and he’s in with a good<br />
shout at this year’s ceremony for a<br />
similarly transformative role. In “The Theory<br />
of Everything” the actor was outstanding as<br />
internationally renowned theoretical physicist<br />
Stephen Hawking. In “The Danish Girl”<br />
Redmayne once again provides a strikingly<br />
physical performance to tell the story of Lili<br />
Elbe, one of the first people to undergo sex<br />
reassignment surgery. Einar Wagnar and his<br />
wife Gerda are painters. When Gerda has her<br />
husband step in for an absent female model,<br />
a lifelong identification with that gender—and<br />
the Lili Elbe persona—is revealed. Redmayne’s<br />
costar Alicia Vikander (“Ex Machina,” “The<br />
Man From U.N.C.L.E.”) puts in an equally<br />
sensitive performance in a film from “Les<br />
Miserables’” director Tom Hooper.<br />
MR. HOLMES<br />
London’s most notorious supersleuth<br />
Sherlock Holmes has enjoyed<br />
something of a revival in recent<br />
years, epitomized by the BBC series<br />
“Sherlock,” which catapulted Benedict<br />
Cumberbatch to stardom. While Sherlock<br />
and many other recent works place<br />
the character in a modern setting, “Mr.<br />
Holmes” treads a different path. By 1947,<br />
the world-famous detective is reaching<br />
the end of his storied years. Retired and<br />
living a life of relative seclusion, the old<br />
investigator is bitter at the sensationalized<br />
take on his exploits and tormented by the<br />
memory of the one case that he couldn’t<br />
solve. Much admired thesp Ian McKellen<br />
heads the cast in an exceptional turn as the<br />
tortured old genius.<br />
MAR 18<br />
THE BIG SHORT<br />
MAR 4<br />
The housing and credit collapse that<br />
lead to the financial crisis at the end<br />
of the last decade may not seem like<br />
a laughing matter but that’s exactly how<br />
director Adam McKay has approached it.<br />
Focusing on the Wall Street moneymen who<br />
saw the bubble’s impending burst, “The<br />
Big Short” zips along at a frenetic pace as<br />
Ryan Gosling narrates much of the financial<br />
wheeling and dealing going down. Hollywood<br />
big shots Brad Pitt, Steve Carell and Christian<br />
Bale play some unquestionably smart men of<br />
extremely questionable moral character who<br />
saw the system’s weakness and exploited it.<br />
Picking up five Academy Award nominations<br />
including Best Picture and Best Director, the<br />
film deals with a complex subject matter but<br />
it’s delivered in such a way as to make it both<br />
palatable and blackly comic.<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
EXPAT LIFE | WEEKENDER | 31<br />
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www.pethoteltokyo.com (Japanese) | http://adc.pipi.cc (English)<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
AGENDA<br />
1<br />
ARTIST in HOTEL project: Ryosuke Yasumoto’s artist room<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
5<br />
AGENDA: THE WEEKENDER ROUNDUP OF WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARCH<br />
1 MAR 21<br />
Jeff Mills X <strong>Tokyo</strong> Philharmonic<br />
Orchestra<br />
Iconic Detroit DJ Jeff Mills<br />
combines his electronic talents with<br />
the esteemed <strong>Tokyo</strong> Philharmonic<br />
Orchestra in a unique musical event.<br />
Where: Bunkamura Orchard Hall<br />
How Much: ¥5,800 - ¥6,800<br />
More info: www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
2<br />
MAR 12-13 3 MAR 23<br />
4<br />
ART in PARK HOTEL<br />
TOKYO <strong>2016</strong><br />
This art-themed hotel will<br />
be transforming its rooms into walkin<br />
galleries featuring pieces from<br />
around Japan, for one weekend only.<br />
Where: Park Hotel <strong>Tokyo</strong>, Higashi Shinbashi<br />
How Much: ¥1,500 (one-day pass)<br />
More info: parkhoteltokyo.com<br />
Buckcherry Tour<br />
The renowned punk rock<br />
band will have fists pumping<br />
all night long at their concert. Catch<br />
one of the loudest and most rebellious<br />
bands of the 21st century!<br />
Where: Tsutaya O-East, Shibuya<br />
How Much: ¥12,500<br />
More info: www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
MAR 20-30<br />
Cherry Blossom Viewing<br />
Parks, streets, and canals all<br />
over <strong>Tokyo</strong> will be bursting<br />
in pink shades at the end of the month.<br />
Look for hanami parties and enjoy the<br />
warm weather!<br />
Where: All over <strong>Tokyo</strong> parks<br />
How Much: Various prices<br />
More info: www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
5 MAR 6 6 MAR 19-20 7 MAR 18<br />
Hina Dolls Exhibition<br />
Avoid if you have a<br />
fear of dolls...10,000<br />
Hina figurines will be on display to<br />
celebrate Girls’ Day and hark back to<br />
the traditions of yore.<br />
Where: Yokohama Doll Museum<br />
How Much: ¥400 | More info: www.<br />
yokohama-doll-museum.com/english<br />
<strong>Tokyo</strong> International Whiskey<br />
Festival<br />
A whiskey aficionado’s<br />
dream come true! The first inaugural<br />
expo is kicking off with food, cigars,<br />
and world-famous whiskeys.<br />
Where: <strong>Tokyo</strong> American Club<br />
How Much: ¥9,870<br />
More info: www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
Asakusa Kannon Jigen-e<br />
In the year 628, two brothers<br />
were fishing when they<br />
found a statue of Buddha. It is said a<br />
golden dragon descended and blessed<br />
them; today, Asakusa celebrates with a<br />
dragon parade, dancing, and cheering.<br />
Where: Sensoji Temple, Asakusa<br />
More info: www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
8 MAR 17-30<br />
Rikugien Cherry Blossom<br />
Illumination<br />
View cherry blossoms in a<br />
completely new light, even at night. Rikugien<br />
never disappoints when it comes to<br />
illuminating their garden.<br />
Where: Rikugien Garden, Bunkyo-ku<br />
How Much: Free<br />
More info: www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
MARCH <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com
MARCH | AGENDA | 33<br />
MARCH<br />
9<br />
10<br />
11<br />
12<br />
9 MAR 5-6 10 MAR 26-27<br />
Aoyama Sake Flea<br />
Anime Japan <strong>2016</strong><br />
Vol. 4 – Keep the drinks<br />
Alright, fans of anime—<br />
flowing! The fourth installment<br />
of the Sake Flea is here—try The expo will feature fashion, art,<br />
we’ve got one for you.<br />
flavors from all corners of Japan, and rare collectibles, lectures, guest stars,<br />
pick up organic crafts and snacks too. exhibits, theater, and much more.<br />
Where: United Nations University<br />
Where: <strong>Tokyo</strong> Big Site, Ariake<br />
How Much: Free<br />
How much: ¥2,000<br />
More info: www.tokyoweekender.com More info: www.anime-japan.jp<br />
11 MAR 13 12 MAR 1-30<br />
Tequila Festa <strong>2016</strong><br />
Totem: Cirque du Soleil<br />
In an attempt to convert<br />
Japan<br />
more people into fans of<br />
The mind-blowing troupe<br />
Mexican cuisine, the Japan Tequila Association<br />
is hosting a day of cocktails, spectacular gymnastics to <strong>Tokyo</strong>. Not<br />
is bringing their wild costumes and<br />
smooth tunes, and culture.<br />
one to be missed.<br />
Where: Tabloid, Kaigan, Minato-ku<br />
Where: Odaiba Big Top<br />
How Much: ¥5,500<br />
How Much: ¥6,500 - ¥7,500<br />
More info: www.tequilafesta.jp/_tokyo/ More info: www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
www.tokyoweekender.com MARCH <strong>2016</strong>
BACK IN THE DAY: MARCH 1974<br />
Check out the scene in <strong>Tokyo</strong> from 1974! You can read the rest of this issue (No.12<br />
1974) and view <strong>Weekender</strong>’s 45-year archive online. www.tokyoweekender.com/<br />
weekender-archives/