Tokyo Weekender - January 2016
Looking back at the year that was. How to Stay True to Your Resolutions Snowboarding & Skiing in Honshu.
Looking back at the year that was. How to Stay True to Your Resolutions Snowboarding & Skiing in Honshu.
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If a look back at the<br />
events of the previous<br />
year teach us anything,<br />
it’s that you can always<br />
count on <strong>Tokyo</strong> to keep<br />
us guessing—and give<br />
us something to discuss.<br />
From architectural ups<br />
and downs and debates<br />
of war to rough-housing<br />
dignitaries and movie<br />
monster ambassadors,<br />
here are some of the<br />
stories that shaped 2015<br />
JANUARY DECEMBER <strong>2016</strong> www.tokyoweekender.com<br />
by Alec Jordan<br />
JANUARY<br />
Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa—one man<br />
an independent journalist and the other a<br />
would-be “mercenary”—are killed by the<br />
terrorists of ISIS, after being held hostage<br />
for several months. Prior to their murders,<br />
a ransom video, which showed the two men<br />
in orange jumpsuits kneeling on either side<br />
of the London-born terrorist known as “Jihadi<br />
John,” grips the world. Kiyoshi Kimura,<br />
the owner of the Sushi-Zanmai chain of<br />
sushi restaurants, keeps his four-year streak<br />
of winning the first auction of the year at<br />
Tsukiji market going with a ¥4.51 million<br />
($37,500) bid on a bluefin tuna.<br />
FEBRUARY<br />
The Ethiopian runners Endesha Negesse<br />
and Berhane Dibaba win the Men and Women’s<br />
sections of the 2015 <strong>Tokyo</strong> Marathon.<br />
Security was significantly stepped up for the<br />
race in the wake of the ISIS murders: anti-terror<br />
police run alongside competitors on<br />
the cold, rainy day. The UK’s Prince William<br />
makes a four-day trip to Japan; it is the first<br />
visit of a British royal to the country since<br />
2008. The novelist, and some-time advisor to<br />
Prime Minister Abe, Ayako Sono writes an<br />
opinion piece in which she supports allowing<br />
more immigrants in Japan, but suggest<br />
that those immigrants live separately from<br />
Japanese people.<br />
MARCH<br />
Michelle Obama arrives in Japan wearing<br />
a dress by the Japanese designer Kenzo.<br />
Meanwhile, Angela Merkel urges Japan to<br />
come to grips with its wartime past. <strong>Tokyo</strong><br />
marks the 20th anniversary of the Aum<br />
Shinrikyo gas attacks on the <strong>Tokyo</strong> subway<br />
lines. Shibuya Ward becomes the first location<br />
in Japan to recognize same-sex partnerships.<br />
Service between <strong>Tokyo</strong> and Kanazawa<br />
begins on the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line.<br />
Ariana Miyamoto, a Japanese national<br />
whose mother is Japanese and whose father<br />
is African American, is selected as Miss Universe<br />
Japan. A statue reuniting the faithful<br />
Hachiko and his master Hidesaburo Ueno is<br />
unveiled.<br />
APRIL<br />
A Japanese man is arrested for using a<br />
drone to carry radioactive sand to the top<br />
of Prime Minister Abe’s office, in protest of<br />
Abe’s nuclear energy policy. Next month,<br />
laws go into place limiting the use of drones<br />
in public parks and near governmental<br />
buildings. Godzilla is recruited as the tourism<br />
ambassador for the ward of Shinjuku,<br />
and his giant likeness was erected to loom<br />
over the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku. The final<br />
Rugby Sevens World Series matches are<br />
held in <strong>Tokyo</strong>. Taco Bell makes a popular<br />
return to <strong>Tokyo</strong> after 20 years.