OCTOBER 2014 Japan’s number one English language magazine EXPERIENCE NAGASAKI Tradition and Modernity Meet at Japan’s First Gateway to the West MIYAVI EDUCATION SPECIAL HIDEAKI ANNO The Globetrotting Communities of Learning, The Director of Evangelion Musician Prepares to in the Classroom Headlines the Tokyo Take a New Stage and beyond International Film Festival ALSO: Getting in Touch with the Natural Beauty of Akita, Yuta Tabuse: the NBA Ambassador, People, Parties, and Places, and Much More TokyoWeekender_October.indd 1 26/09/2014 11:52 Join the Conversation, Join the Club JOIN TOKYO WEEKENDER’S INSIDERS CLUB TO FIND OUT ABOUT LIMITED OFFERS THROUGHOUT TOKYO, ATTEND EXCLUSIVE EVENTS, GET THE LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT PRODUCTS BEFORE THEY LAUNCH, AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD. 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OCTOBER 2014 www.tokyoweekender.com TokyoWeekender_October.indd 2 26/09/2014 11:52 OCTOBER 2014 CONTENTS 6 EVANGELION ©Khara EVANGELION HIDEAKI ANNO The iconoclastic animator talks Studio Ghibli and the end of Evangelion 12 16 46 OUTDOORS IN AKITA ALL EYES ON NAGASAKI MIYAVI Getting in touch with the elements in the Up close and personal with Japan’s The samurai guitarist prepares to take a land of the north westernmost prefecture star turn on the big screen 9 TIFF Preview 31 Education Special 44 Movies What the Tokyo International Film Find the best schools and programs to help Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s final starring Festival has in store for its 27th year your child achieve their best role and Scarlett Johansson’s dark turn 10 Art Beat 32 Nakasendo Way 48 Agenda Three exhibitions you won’t want to miss Setting out on one of the Edo Period’s “Great Halloween Parties, Tokyo’s best known this month Routes” print show, and more than a couple festas 14 Yuta Tabuse 38 People, Parties and Places 50 Back in the Day The NBA’s first Japanese-born player fires Looking back at some of the summer’s In which a group of strapping young lads up J-League hoops soirees, and a farewell to a diplomatic couple are in search of a hooker www.tokyoweekender.com OCTOBER 2014 TokyoWeekender_October.indd 3 29/09/2014 14:28 THIS MONTH IN THE WEEKENDER a thousand years. Nagasaki was also OCTOBER 2014 famously the first place where Europe OCTOBER 2014 and Japan met, which eventually wove Japan’s number one English language magazine a variety of Western influences— scientific and religious—into the fabric of Japanese culture. This month we take a long look at Publisher BC Media Group EXPERIENCE Nagasaki, from its thriving port cities— Chairman Ray Pedersen NAGASAKI Nagasaki and Sasebo—to the historical Executive Producer Asi Rinestine Tradition and Modernity Meet at Japan’s First Gateway to the West charm and natural beauty of Hirado and Unzen. Our trip through the region Editor Alec Jordan brought us a few surprises, and we Art Director Liam Ramshaw imagine you’ll find a few yourself as Media Director Kotaro Toda you navigate your way through our Account Executives Nobu (Nick) Nakazawa Nagasaki Special. Ohad Elbaz MIYAVI EDUCATION SPECIAL HIDEAKI ANNO Back here in Tokyo, preparations The Globetrotting Communities of Learning, The Director of Evangelion Musician Prepares to in the Classroom Headlines the Tokyo are well under way for the 27th annual Media Consultant Mary Rudow Take a New Stage and beyond International Film Festival Marketing Ingrid Dubreuil Tokyo International Film Festival. TIFF Editorial Consultant Sami Kawahara ALSO: Getting in Touch with the Natural Beauty of Akita, Yuta Tabuse: the NBA Ambassador, People, Parties, and Places, and Much More is focusing its attention on one of Japan’s Front Cover image by Fujinari Miyazaki best-known exports—anime—this year, Society Bill Hersey and devoting a program to the work of ne of the great debates the celebrated anime director Hideaki Editorial Associates Vivian Morelli in Japanese society today Matthew Hernon Anno. We were able to sit down with is about how the country Robert Morel O Anno as he weighed in on the state of the can internationalize and be art today, and on his early work alongside Executive Producer of Hiroyuki Igawa more of an active player on the global Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki. We Nagasaki Section stage. While policy makers appear to also talk with the captivating rock star be at ends about how to achieve this Miyavi, who was recently tapped by Film Christopher O’Keeffe goal, they would be well served to look Angelina Jolie for a major film project, back in history and look west, to the take a peek at some of the latest art IT Manager Nick Adams prefecture of Nagasaki. Development Manager Stephane Boudoux openings, and much, much more. Given its close proximity to Finance & Admin Keiko Suzuki We hope you enjoy reading this DBA Iryna Sundutova mainland Asia, it is no surprise that issue even more than we did putting it Nagasaki was one of the first places together. See you next month. where the peoples of Korea, China, and Japan first came into contact with each other, and the trade that has flowed between these nations has EST. Corky Alexander, 1970 been a thriving affair for more than 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 TokyoWeekender_October.indd 4 29/09/2014 14:28 AN EVENING OF GOOD TASTE On behalf of the Japanese Sake and Shochu Makers’ Association, you are cordially invited to a guided tour of the sake experience, free of charge. Take an interactive journey alongside renowned wine and sake consultant Kenichi Ohashi, as he explains the features and flavors that make up some of Japan’s most celebrated sakes. As a part of a brief lecture, you will learn about the sake making process, the different taste profiles of the many different types of nihonshu, and have the opportunity to sample a variety of rare sakes from around japan. Seats are limited to the first 100 respondents. To reserve your place, please send an email to James K. Toda at [email protected] by October 10. Time: Friday, November 4, 2014, from 19:00 to 21:00 Location: Café Serre, 104-0045 Tōkyō-to, Chuō-ku, Tsukiji 1-13-1, Ginza Shōchiku Square 2F TokyoWeekender_October.indd 5 29/09/2014 14:28 by Christopher O’Keeffe pend a few hours on Tokyo’s streets, and it’s not hard to see that Evangelion rules the Japanese anime scene. Whether you see them peering down from billboards and pachinko parlors or staring out from the covers of mag- Sazines, the hulking purple EVA robot and pilots Ayanami Rei, Asuka Soryu Langley, and Ikari Shinji seem to be everywhere. The impact of the 1995–96 series on the ani- me world, and on pop culture itself, makes Evangelion’s creator, Hideaki Anno, one of the most important men in an industry that dominates Japan’s modern cultural landscape. With this month’s Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) aiming to shine a spotlight on Japanese anima- tion, whom better to focus on than Anno, an animator whose career spans over thirty years and reaches beyond his most famous creation to include award-win- ning animation, live-action features, and acting roles. Speaking to Weekender from the Khara Inc. offices, the company that he founded and where he sits as presi- dent, Anno opened up about a life in animation. Early in his career the young animator was given a chance to help out on Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, creating the impressive “God Warri- or” in the groundbreaking animated movie. When asked what words of advice he received from the animation master, he recalls words of guidance both practical and profound: “He gave me a lot of technical tips, but he also reminded me that ‘our minds are set to create things.’ He also told me not to worry too much about sleep!” TIFF’s focus on both Anno and animation in general is timely, coming as it does so soon after Studio Ghibli, for so long a major force in the industry, has announced it no longer has any works planned or in production. But the man who Miyazaki cites as his protégé never had the feeling that he would succeed Miyazaki at the storied studio: “I didn’t have the notion of Ghibli as an independent thing; rather, Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki-san are so closely connected. I always thought that, when Miyazaki stops working, Studio Ghibli will close. There was no notion that it was going to grow by itself.” TokyoWeekender_October.indd 6 29/09/2014 14:28 HIDEAKI ANNO | ENTERTAINMENT | 7 EVANGELION ©Khara cofounded, made the series, I wonder if there was anyone above him at the time who panicked at the thought of ending the series this way.