tokyo APRIL 2012 weekenderJapan’s premier English language magazine Since 1970 INTERNATIONAL PLUS SAKURA SEASON EXCELLENCE TOKYO’S BEST HANAMI SPOTS A LOOK AT AOBA-JAPAN INTERNATIONAL GOLDEN WEEK SCHOOL’S NEW CAMPUS WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO HIROSHIMA A CITY-BREAK IN JAPAN’S CITY OF PEACE AGENDA INTERVIEW P L U S ! All the biggest Ryoichi Higuchi, singer International Women’s Day: live shows this month of YouTube hit ‘Tegami’ Coca-Cola leading the way IN THIS ISSUE: The Latest APAC news from the Asia Daily Wire, People Parties & Places, Daikanyama shopping guide, movie previews and much more... PUMA PRESS.pdf 1 3/29/12 11:36 AM C M Y CM MY CY CMY K APRIL, 2012 CONTENTS 22 EXPLORING HIROSHIMA Weekender explores Japan’s city of peace. 42 32 48 TEGAMI, A LETTER OF LOVE WOMEN’S DAY 2012 APRIL AGENDA Interview with YouTube sensation Coca-Cola Japan inspires women to lead The Agenda previews the best live shows Ryoichi Higuchi. and connect at Midtown event. coming up in Tokyo this month. 11 Asia Daily Wire 18 Golden Week 45 Tokyo Tables A roundup of all the top APAC news of the Where to go, what to do this holiday Vinoir, Nogizaka’s newest restaurant is a past month. season. wine lovers paradise. 14 Sakura Season 20 Walk Japan 47 Movie Previews The best spots to experience hanami in Expat-led business takes tourists off the All the April releases coming to a cinema Tokyo. beaten path. near you. 16 Cover Story 38 Bill Hersey 50 Back in the day Aoba-Japan International School Tokyo’s longest running society column Weekender takes a look back at Tokyo in celebrates moving to a new location. printed in Weekender for 42 years! April 1982. weekendertokyo APRIL 2012 Publisher Bulbous Cell Media Group Chairman Ray Pedersen General Manager Asi Rinestine Media Director Tomas Castro Editor Stephen Parker Sales Executive Nobu (Nick) Nakazawa Business Development Director Kotaro Toda Art Director Liam Ramshaw Media Coordinator Mary Rudow Media Consultant Matthew Hernon Contributing Editor Bill Hersey Editorial Associates Annamarie Sasagawa, Vivian Morelli Ayako Fujiwara, Christopher O’Keeffe IT Manager Nick Adams Development Manager Stephane Boudoux Finance & Admin Vika Maslyuk Web Development Amit Raj Baral DBA Iryna Sundutova EST. Corky Alexander and Susan Scully, 1970 Published by Bulbous Cell Media Group www.bulbouscell.com Published monthly at the Regency Shinsaka Building, 5th floor 8-5-8 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052 (03) 6846-5615 / (03) 6846-5616 (fax) [email protected] To have Tokyo Weekender delivered to you, please call (03) 6846-5615 or email: [email protected] For ad sales inquiries, please call (03) 6846-5615 or email: [email protected] www.tokyoweekender.com Opinions expressed by Weekender contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher tokyo APRIL 2012 weekenderJapan’s premier English language magazine Since 1970 On the cover: International Excellence: Aoba-Japan International School’s Adam Doi and Royce Jacobs celebrate a new start. INTERNATIONAL PLUS SAKURA SEASON EXCELLENCE TOKYO’S BEST HANAMI SPOTS A LOOK AT AOBA-JAPAN INTERNATIONAL GOLDEN WEEK Follow Tokyo Weekender on Twitter: SCHOOL’S NEW CAMPUS WHAT TO DO , WHERE TO GO OFF THE BEATEN PATH @weekenderjapan HIROSHIMA A CITY-BREAK IN JAPAN’S CITY OF PEACE AGENDA INTERVIEW PLUS! Like us on Facebook: All the biggest Ryoichi Higuchi, singer International Women’s Day: live shows this month of YouTube hit ‘Tegami’ Coca-Cola leading the way IN THIS ISSUE: The Latest APAC news from the Asia Daily Wire, People Parties & Places, Daikanyama Shopping Guide, Movie Previews and much more... www.facebook.com/tokyo.weekender APRIL 2012 www.tokyoweekender.com WEEKENDER NEWS 11 ASIA DAILY WIRE YOUR GO-TO place fOR APAC NEWS sia Daily Wire is your go-to place for all the latest news from across the Japanese real Asia Pacific region. Covering business, culture, entertainment, sports and estate magnate Minoru Mori breaking news, Asia Daily Wire is updated round the clock in real time and dies at 77 picks and chooses the best headlines from sources across Asia—doing all Minoru the hard work for you. Here is a roundup of some of the most interesting Mori, whose headlines of the past month... entrepreneurial risk-taking helped A No. of people Court orders Google transform the per household to stop labeling central Tokyo falls below two Japanese man a skyline and which set him apart from Japan’s in Tokyo for crook staid real-estate world, has died at age 77, his first time The Tokyo District Court company announced Monday. The number issued an injunction Tokyo Weekender salutes the of people per on March 19 ordering ‘King of the Hills’. household in Tokyo Google Inc. to stop stands at 1.99, its search engine’s Online gaming firms join to protect falling below 2 for the first time on record, the autocomplete function kids from big bills Tokyo metropolitan government said. from suggesting a Six companies that offer social network Can Weekender suggest implementing a 3 Japanese man is a gaming and other types of online gaming, kids minimum rule? criminal. The Tokyo District Court approves including Gree Inc. and DeNA Co., have a petition demanding that search giant formed a council in order to work together Court rules nationality law on Google suspend its autocomplete feature for to create guidelines for promoting the proper foreign-born children legal Internet browsers after a man alleges the utilization of games and healthy growth of A Tokyo court ruled a clause in the function was used to breach his privacy and the market. nationality law which stipulates that get him fired. What about us adults? children of Japanese nationals born overseas Weekender tip: If your last name is Hitler, who have acquired foreign nationality don’t call your son Adolf. Nikkei closes at post-quake high on cannot get a Japanese passport unless their weakness of yen parents take steps to obtain nationality Govt aims to cut civil servant hiring Tokyo stocks reached their highest point since within three months of birth. for 2013 by 40% from 2009 the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake on The Japanese government confirmed that hopes for the continued weakness of the yen. Another 6.1 quake jolts eastern it will try to reduce new hiring of national Japan, but still measures to deal with civil servants for fiscal 2013 by more than Uniqlo opens 12-story shop in Ginza city quake ‘refugees’ slow in coming 40 percent compared with fiscal 2009, its Uniqlo opens flagship store in Tokyo’s posh An earthquake with a preliminary officials said. Ginza district on March 16, targeting Chinese magnitude of 6.1 hit east of Tokyo on March First robotic civil servants to be unveiled and other tourists. 14, yet another reminder of the danger in 2014? That’s a lot of Heat-Tech. lurking in the background. ln addition, though more than 5 million people were Facebook doubles Japanese user base stranded in the Tokyo metropolitan area to 10 million in 6 months following the Great East Japan Earthquake, Facebook Inc., the U.S. firm behind the municipalities and companies are not close world’s largest social networking site, to coming up with measures to house Tokyo announced that it now has more than 10 refugees in the event of another major million users in Japan—twice as many as For all the big news of 2012 updated live, disaster. last September. visit: www.asiadailywire.com Tokyo Weekender likes this post. www.tokyoweekender.com APRIL 2012 HANAMI fEATURE 13 t’s April again and millions of gorgeous, ephemeral sakura flowers are in bloom. Grab a blanket, a few drinks and snacks and gather with friends and family under the cherry trees for the happiest, most lighthearted, andI undoubtedly most beautiful time of TOKYO the year: o-hanami. The following are Weekender’s pick of Tokyo’s top hanami spots. Just make sure you turn up early, as salarymen are known to stake-out prime park real estate for hours to secure a good spot! IN BLOOM Daikanyama Saigoyama Koen Just one stop from Shibuya, amidst the hilly and trendy streets of Daikanyama, is the THE WEEKENDER GUIDE gorgeous and quiet Saigoyama Koen. This mid-sized park not only is a prime spot for cherry blossom viewing but also offers an exclusive peek at the surrounding city with its TO SAKURA SEASON wide open skies and street proximity. Closest station: Daikanyama (Toyoko line) By Vivian Morelli Yoyogi Park Renowned Yoyogi Park, a favorite amongst Tokyoites and visitors alike, needs no introduction. Adjacent to Harajuku station, it offers an easy escape from the busy shopping streets and its spacious, grassy grounds are perfect for endless hours of frolicking and relaxing. Nearby Meiji Shrine offers a nice distraction if you feel like wandering about. Closest station: Harajuku (JR line) www.tokyoweekender.com APRIL 2012 14 fEATURE HANAMI The Meguro river, lined with sakura trees in full bloom. HANAMI ESSENTIALS: • Blue plastic tarps and aluminum-like ones are readily available and practical. • Blanket, which also provides warmth for those chilly early days of spring. • Simple snacks such as onigiri and sembei. • Bento box for Japanese style, or baguette and cheese for Western style. • Bottles of green tea and water. • The quintessential cans of beers, chu-hi, sake, or perhaps a bottle of wine (or three). • Homemade white sangria: mix some chilled white wine and wedges of apples, oranges, and citrus. • Sweets: try the traditional mitarashi (skewered sweet dumplings). of cherry trees, a pleasing fact for sakura Shinjuku Gyoen Inokashira Koen aficionados.