Tokyo Weekender July 2016

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MIDTOWN OAKWOOD CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY 1. Fortress’s Tami Ooka, Asian Tigers Nick Masse 2. Midtown’s Amy Harashino, rowing celebrity Capt. Lia Ditton 3. Midtown’s man in Japan Martin Fluck, Pacific Development & Mgmt. Co’s Rep. director Hiroshi Kasugai, Playfoot Advisory’s Marcus Fishenden 4. Konishiki and country/ western singer Crystal Godfleish 5. Maho, Kamasami Kong, Fujisankei’s Jeff Richards 6. Konishiki, Anetta Hausner, Mayumi Jones, Andre Zimmerman 1 2 4 3 5 6 7 9 12 10 8 JAPAN ARAB RECEPTION – IMPERIAL HOTEL 7. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 8. <strong>Tokyo</strong> governor Yuriko Koike 9. Noted pianist Reiko Awazu, Namibia Amb. Sophia-Namupa Nangome, Bangladesh Amb. Rabab, Lilo Maruyama 10. Bahrain Amb. Dr. Khalil Hassan Ras Romani and the Hotel New Otani’s Seiji Kojima 11. Politician Kazuyuki Hamada, Rana Ismayilzada (Azerbaijan), APA Hotels owners Toshio and Fumiko Motoya 12. Jamilah Al-Otaibi (Kuwait), Shifa Haddad (Jordan), her mother Amal Zghoul, Jamila Al- Gunaid (Yemen) 11 48 | JULY 2017 | TOKYO WEEKENDER
very informative and interesting. I’m sure that the wife of the Kuwaiti Ambassador Jamilah, who really has an artistic sense, worked hard on setting it up. Our congratulations to the Council of Arab Ambassadors and Heads of Mission and their many friends here who made it all very special. THE IMPERIAL HOTEL’S GLITTERING DINNER FOR THE MEDIA Once again, the President of the Imperial Hotel, Hideya Sadayasu, and his super staff went all out to make their annual party for the media a very special evening. This year the party, bigger than usual, was held in a larger venue: the luxurious Peacock Room. The spacious venue was filled wall to wall with interesting people. It was nice seeing special guest Peter Shaindlin, who’s President of the legendary Halekulani Hotel in Honolulu, and many top Japanese and foreign journalists I don’t see enough of. The buffet was a fabulous presentation that the top chefs and food and beverage staff had spent a lot of time and effort on. They certainly had a gourmet dinner to be proud of. Congratulations to our host Sadayasu-san. At the same time, congratulations to the world-renowned hotel on their new and very personable managing director and GM, Yukio Kanao. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MIDTOWN OAKWOOD Midtown’s luxurious Oakwood Premiere recently hosted a packed 10th anniversary party at their popular residential lounge in Midtown Mall, which is also celebrating its 10th birthday. As always at their many happenings, there was a huge crowd enjoying the music by a Hawaiian duo, chatting with former sumo champ Konishiki, enjoying the excellent buffet and mixing with a lot of interesting people. I really enjoyed spending time with British Captain Lia Ditton, who has gained international fame by rowing her colorful customized boat solo across the Atlantic Ocean. I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot more of her and her boat, which looks a bit Star Wars-esque, later this year. Lia’s planning a trans-Pacific solo and is sure, with the right sponsors, she can make it happen. My thanks to Oakwood’s Martin Fluck and his always helpful staff for all their kindness, generosity and friendship over the years. My congratulations to them all on the success of their many hotels. They all work very hard and it’s paid off. NEW FACES, NEW PLACES First, many thanks to Sri Lankan business tycoon Nishantha Perera for an invitation to his “New Tomorrow Café.” The theme for this quiet relaxing getaway is “Happiness, Healing, and Hope” and it’s right behind the German Embassy which is just up the hill from National Azabu Supermarket in the Arisunomori Minamiazabu complex. The café is big. The main dining area has a relaxed atmosphere and is filled with comfortable tables, chairs and couches. There’s a large outdoor patio where you can enjoy a first-class barbecue for as many as 50 people. If you really want to relax, you can stretch out in one of the hammocks. There’s plenty of greenery, especially my favorite – bamboo. If someone in your party is talented, there’s a grand piano in the main dining room that you can use if it doesn’t bother the other customers, and there’s a small hall with a stage and a good PA system connected to the main dining room. There are two kitchens and an excellent chef. The menu is limited, but I was really happy with a cup of Sri Lankan tea, a fruit smoothie and a piece of New York cheese cake. The café is open daily from 9am to 6pm. Private parties can be booked until 8pm. If you check it out I’m sure you’ll be surprised to find such a spacious relaxed and enjoyable retreat in one of <strong>Tokyo</strong>’s upscale neighborhoods. For more information call 03-6869-5656. My timing was perfect for my first visit as there was a colorful exhibition of paintings by one of Sri Lanka’s top artists, Kekuli. She’s a very interesting woman whose late husband was mayor of two cities in Sri Lanka, and her travel companions to Japan for her exhibit were her two daughters – Tersha who’s a lawyer, and Iranajali who’s a psychologist – and Prince Unamboowe, whose great grandfather was the last King of Ceylon. They were all interesting people and I spent most of the afternoon with them. Happy to have new, high-quality friends in a country I love and hope to visit soon. I left the café that day with a much-cherished gift, a painting of an elephant – one of my favorite animals – by Kekuli. I had more time later with a very talented sculptor, Dule. He worked for me at a nightclub I ran for many years in Roppongi. Now he’s a professor in Shanghai, a city he loves, and was here to see friends. He has sculptures in many museums and I’m really proud of a beautiful gold greyhound sculpture he sent me. I also appreciate that Dule got me addicted to goji berries – it seems the Chinese are really into this health food. You can get them at National Azabu or Nissen. In other news, I drive through Yoyogi Park almost every day and was recently surprised to find a parking spot available on a Sunday. I stopped, and was pleased to discover they were having an Okinawa Street Music Festival. I learned to really like Okinawan music when I was there a few years ago for a film festival, and was able to hear and meet some of Okinawa’s top musical artists. As you can see our city’s been busy. Unfortunately, conflicting schedules, lots of visitors, and so on added up to me having to miss several worthwhile events. The first was almost a week of Armenian culture hosted by Ambassador Grant Pogosyan and his wife Natalia. It was to celebrate a quarter century of Armenian-Japanese relations and there was a full schedule of art, food, cosmetics demonstrations, Armenian lace exhibits, and music from both countries. Congratulations to our Armenian and Japanese friends who got it all together. Irish Ambassador Annie Barrington’s talented American husband Ed Miliano is an accomplished artist. I’ve seen some of his work on the walls of their home, and loved it. Sorry I missed his May exhibit at the Motoazabu Museum. It was titled “No Ordinary Place” and friends who made it there really enjoyed it. Finally, for more proof positive that the multi-talented Steve Haynes never slows down, he just released his a new CD titled High Heels Music. It features 15 superstars performing their biggest hits. In between each song, Steve gives a short intro in his really professional manner. It’s a CD you should have. Pick it up and you’ll know what I mean. Congratulations, my friend. Sri Lankan businessman Nishantha Perera, artist Kekuli Abeyratne, her daughters Iranjali and Tersha, and Prince Unamboowe at the New Tomorrow Café in Mita Cliff Wooley and his daughter Kim at the Pride Festival New Miss Supranational, Yuki Koshikawa, with friends at Shibuya Segafredo TOKYO WEEKENDER | JULY 2017 | 49
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Tokyo Weekender July 2016

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