NOVEMBER 2014 Japan’s number one English language magazine AKITA Festivals of Ice and Fire POLITICS How a Fan Can Kill Your Career ERIKA SAWAJIRI First Class Actress Stays on Script ALSO: Master Motivator Shuzo Matsuoka, the Story of a Social Entrepreneur, Ecotourism in Japan, Agenda,www.tokyoweekender.com Movies, andNOVEMBER More 2014 NOVEMBER 2014 www.tokyoweekender.com NOVEMBER 2014 CONTENTS 16 ERIKA SAWAJIRI Star of Fuji TV’s drama First Class talks about the next stage in her career Blue Girl with Wine © 2014 Tim Burton Blue Girl 6 10 20 ART BEAT TOKYO ECOTOURISM THE VISION NAVIGATOR Tim Burton comes to town, the Hara Tread lightly, support local economies, Patrick Newell balances business and social Museum looks back at 35 years, and more and see another side of Japan responsibility with a healthy sense of fun 9 Hisui Tokyo 18 Kamuro Optical 26 People, Parties, Places A new school for the traditional Japanese These are not your granny’s glasses: get Bill preps for his 17th Orphans’ Party and arts in the heart of Ginza ready to make a spectacle of yourself celebrates a golden anniversary 12 Ginyu Hakone 22 Opinion 30 Movies Indulge your senses at this ultra- Getting a handle on the political scandal A cavalcade of action stars, a luxurious onsen ryokan that blew up over a paper fan groundbreaking family drama, and more 14 Akita Winter Festivals 24 Shuzo Matsuoka 40 Agenda Community celebrations and centuries- Kei Nishikori’s mentor talks about the Food and drink festas, a delectable run, old traditions in northern Honshu early days of the Shimane Kid and charity Christmas markets www.tokyoweekender.com NOVEMBER 2014 THIS MONTH IN THE WEEKENDER honest look at what’s broken. And given NOVEMBER 2014 the recent financial flap that has ended SEPTEMBER 2014 the careers of two prominent female politicians—one of them over a gift as Japan’s number one English language magazine trivial as a fan—there’s plenty ripe for the changing in Japanese politics. If you remember some of the best teachers or coaches you’ve had in your life, you can recognize just how much Publisher BC Media Group AKITA of a difference it can make to have Chairman Ray Pedersen Festivals of someone pushing or inspiring you to do Ice and Fire better than you think you can. Shuzo Executive Producer Asi Rinestine Matsuoka, an early influence on the tennis POLITICS development of Kei Nishikori, talks to us Editor Alec Jordan How a Fan Can about how his experience in the pros Art Director Liam Ramshaw Kill Your Career shaped his philosophy as a coach and a Media Director Kotaro Toda ERIKA SAWAJIRI motivator. Meanwhile, educator and social Account Executives Nobu (Nick) Nakazawa First Class Actress Stays on Script entrepreneur Patrick Newell talks to us Ohad Elbaz ALSO: Master Motivator Shuzo Matsuoka, the Story of a Social Entrepreneur, Ecotourism in Japan, Agenda,www.tokyoweekender.com Movies, andNOVEMBER More 2014 about bringing “Ideas Worth Sharing” to Tokyo and shares about the ways he’s Media Consultants Mary Rudow Cover Photo ©Leslie Kee Sophia Bai working with Japanese companies to help Marketing Ingrid Dubreuil f someone were to walk into them find a balance between business Editorial Consultant Sami Kawahara the same room as you and success and healthy communities. ask, “what are you doing to Even as we hit the road, we see Society Bill Hersey I make the world around you that there are ways to make a difference Editorial Associates Vivian Morelli better?” you’d probably start looking when traveling, whether by taking part in Matthew Hernon for the way out of that room. We don’t tourism that keeps to a lower ecological usually spend our days thinking about footprint or joining in on one of Akita’s improving things—most of the time, it’s lively winter festivals. Film Christopher O’Keeffe just enough to keep up with work, family, There’s plenty more to enjoy this IT Manager Nick Adams and friends, and anything like “helping month on our tour around town as well: Finance & Admin Keiko Suzuki others” starts to sound like a lofty bother. swordplay in Ginza, a look at what’s going DBA Iryna Sundutova But this month, we’ve put together a on at the galleries, and a visit with our collection of articles that shows that lovely cover girl, Erika Sawajiri. there are plenty of ways to answer that As always, thanks for reading, and see you question—and they can be simpler than next month. you think. Our opinion columnist Henry Watts shows us, one of the most important EST. Corky Alexander, 1970 steps in trying to fix things is to take an Editor Published monthly at the Regency Shinsaka Building, 5th floor 8-5-8 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052 (03) 6666-4924 / (03) 6432-9229 (fax) [email protected] To subscribe to the Tokyo Weekender, please call (03) 6666-4924 or email: [email protected] For ad sales inquiries, please call (03) 6666-4924 or email: [email protected] www.tokyoweekender.com Opinions expressed by Weekender contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher JOIN THE CONVERSATION JOIN THE CLUB. BECOME AN INSIDER. Published by BC Media Group www.bulbouscell.com For more information: WWW.TOKYOWEEKENDER.COM/WEEKENDERINSIDERS NOVEMBER 2014 www.tokyoweekender.com www.tokyoweekender.com NOVEMBER 2014 GALLERY GUIDE ART BEAT TOKYO OUR PICKS OF THE EXHIBITIONS AROUND TOWN by Sarah Custen Narahara Ikko: Domains arahara Ikko’s photographs and loneliness; he even used the term are a study of silence, in all its “personal document” to describe his myriad daily manifestations— early work. Though Domains focuses on its textures, its many shades— isolated places, rather than making a Nand an exploration of the landscape of documentary in a social context, Masu- isolation. Yet his collection of haunting do says Narahara “tried to consider and photographs, Domains, has much to say. depict isolation and loneliness for hu- Originally presented in 1958, Nara- man beings, not only in such peculiar hara’s Domains opens the door to two places, but also commonly shared by separate, unfamiliar places—a Trappist people living in modern society.” monastery in Hokkaido and a female pris- These feelings are universal, not on in Wakayama. The images may seem limited to monks or prisoners, or any remote, far removed from us in space and one time period. “We can find some- time, but their source of inspiration stems thing still vivid for us in this work,” from a more intimate, accessible place. Masudo adds, describing the exhibi- According to MOMAT curator Rei Masudo, tion, which includes some 87 prints, as the motivation for this work came from “one of the masterpieces of Japanese Narahara’s own feelings of isolation photo history.” The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT) Dates: November 18, 2014–March 1, 2015 Narahara Ikko, Garden of Silence from Domains, Open: 10:00–17:00, Fridays until 20:00, closed Mondays (1958, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo), Web: www.momat.go.jp/english/artmuseum/naraharaikko.html © Narahara Ikko Archives The Hara Museum Collection at 35 he origins of the Visitors can see works by Hara Museum ac- famous Japanese artists, such tually date back 37 as Masako Ando, Izumi Kato, years, to 1977, when and Rika Noguchi, together for Tthe Arc-en-Ciel Foundation the first time in one exhibi- started. Looking to fill a tion, as well as the permanent void in Japan for a museum sculptures and installations specializing in contemporary that have become a fixture artwork, the foundation and emblem of Hara Museum. culled exceptional pieces Additionally, the exhibition from both Japan and abroad. highlights the Mono-ha move- The Hara Museum of Contem- ment of the late 60s, with works porary Art opened two years by Lee Ufan and his contem- later in 1979, and has since poraries. This group of works grown to house a collection made from everyday materials of over 1,000 works. This ret- includes a permanent installa- rospective exhibition focuses tion by Nobuo Sekine. Kohei Nawa, PixCell-Bambi #2, 2006 mixed media 31.5 x 51 x 20 cm ©Kohei Nawa on artists who are active in This is a truly eclectic show, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art Japan, representing the best with a bit of everything sure Dates: October 25, 2014–January 12, 2015 of Hara’s offerings over the to appeal to an audience as Open: 11:00–17:00, Wednesdays until 20:00, closed Mondays past 35 years. diverse as the exhibition itself. Web: www.haramuseum.or.jp NOVEMBER 2014 www.tokyoweekender.com ART & EXHIBITIONS | CULTURE | 7 The World of Tim Burton or die-hard Tim Burton fans, there is a rift in his oeuvre between the classic, avant-garde Tim Burton, and the more recent, mainstream Tim Burton. Whether Fyou’ve been a fan of his since way back, watching cult classics like Edward Scissorhands or The Night- mare Before Christmas on VHS, or you’ve watched his big-budget, family-friendly films like Alice in Wonderland or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the theater, it’s undeniable that Burton has an unmistakable, unforgettable style that shines darkly in every setting. Equal parts quirky and gothic, Burton’s films blend the grotesque with the goofy in a larger-than- life, surreal world of brilliant colors, silent shad- ows, stage-like sets and real human emotion. This exhibition, with over 500 collected items, brings us behind the scenes and into the mind of the iconic director. With numerous illustrations and sketches dating back to his teen years, this exhibition allows us to meet Burton’s characters from the moment of their “birth.” “We can see the films that Tim Burton dreamed,” explained Mori Gallery representative Maiko Ito.