january 2015 intouch magazine

毎月一回一日発行　

第四十七巻五九七号　

トウキョウアメリカンクラブ　

インタッチマガジン二〇一五年一月一日発行　

平成三年十二月二十日第三種郵便物許可定価八００円

本体七七七円

January 2015

T O K Y O A M E R I C A N C L U B

TOKYO

AM

ERICAN

CLUB

i

NT

OU

CH

Issue 597 • January 2015

Nurturing NatureBringing an Oregon wine dream to fruition

Green AcresTop 10 Member-selected golf courses in Kanto

Flower PowerBudding florists hone their craft at the Club

GRIDIRON GLORYAhead of the Club’s Super Bowl party, former football players share their passion for the game

Club Committees

Compensation Mark MillerCulture, Community & Entertainment Dan Smith (Innocent Obi) Subcommittee

Culture & Community JoAnn Yoneyama Entertainment Matt Krcelic Frederick Harris Gallery Yumiko Sai Video Library Abigail

RadmilovichFinance Rodney Nussbaum (Hiroshi Miyamasu)Food & Beverage Michael Alfant(Jerry Rosenberg) Subcommittee

Wine Stephen RomaineHouse Tomio Fukuda (Jesse Green) Subcommittee

Facilities Management Group Tomio FukudaHuman Resources Per Knudsen (Ginger Griggs)

Membership Alok Rakyan (Machi Nemoto)Nominating Steven GreenbergRecreation Samuel Rogan (Mark Miller) Subcommittee

Bowling Crystal Goodfliesh Fitness Samuel Rogan Golf John Patrick Vaughan Library Alaine Lee Logan Room Christa Rutter Squash Martin Fluck Swim Alexander Jampel Youth Activities Betsy Rogers

Board of Governors

John Durkin (2016)—Representative Governor, Mary Saphin (2016)—First Vice President, Brenda Bohn (2016)—Second Vice

President, Jesse Green (2016)—Secretary, Hiroshi Miyamasu (2015)—Treasurer, Ginger Griggs (2015), Mark Miller (2015), Machi Nemoto (2016), Innocent Obi (2016), Betsy Rogers (2015), Jerry Rosenberg (2016), Kazuakira Nakajima (2016)—Statutory Auditor

contents 2 Contacts

4 Board of Governors

5 Management

6 Events

8 Wine & Dining

10 Arts & Entertainment

16 Recreation & Fitness

22 Feature

28 Talking Heads

30 Inside Japan

32 Out & About

34 Cultural Insight

36 Event Roundup

42 Club People

44 Back Words

FEATUREFor the Love of the GameAs Arizona prepares to

welcome the Super Bowl

to the University of Phoenix

Stadium next month, former

NFL player David Kirtman and

a number of other Members

with football pedigrees share

their gridiron triumphs and

tribulations.

10 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTFrom Corrector to CreatorLess than 1 percent of first-

time authors get published.

Longtime Japan resident Barry

Lancet explains how he joined

that successful minority.

28 TALKING HEADS Into the UnknownWith more countries in Asia

looking to the stars, Club

Member Christopher Blackerby

assesses Japan’s space

exploration capabilities and

ambitions.

16 RECREATION & FITNESSLearning to Speak EasyFew people join Toastmasters

International as part of their

recovery from a stroke. But

that’s exactly what motivated

Member Juan Rabanal to enroll.

22

Cover photo of (l–r) Guy Mordoch and David Kirtman by Kayo Yamawaki

2 January 2015 iNTOUCH

Follow the Club Online

Getting in TouchDepartment/E-mail PhoneAmerican Bar & Grill (03) [email protected]

Banquet Sales and Reservations (03) [email protected]

Beauty Salon (03) 4588-0685Bowling Center (03) [email protected]

Café Med (03) [email protected]

Catering (03) [email protected]

Childcare Center (03) [email protected]

Communications (03) [email protected]

Decanter/220° (03) [email protected]

Engineering (03) [email protected]

Finance (03) 4588-0222 [email protected]

Fitness Center (03) 4588-0266 [email protected]

Food & Beverage Office (03) 4588-0245 [email protected]

Foreign Traders’ Bar (03) [email protected]

Guest Studios (03) [email protected]

Human Resources (03) 4588-0679Information Technology (03) 4588-0690Library (03) [email protected]

Management Office (03) [email protected]

Membership Office (03) [email protected]

Member Services (03) 4588-0670 [email protected]

Pool Office (03) [email protected]

Rainbow Café (03) [email protected]

Recreation Desk (03) [email protected]

The Cellar (03) [email protected]

The Spa (03) [email protected]

Video Library (03) [email protected]

Weddings (03) [email protected]

Women’s Group Office (03) [email protected]

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3

from the

editorDespite all the scandals that have rocked professional NFL football over the past few months, the sport’s popularity has probably been barely affected.

While the NFL has run a slick marketing machine for many years, business is booming right now. The league’s 32 teams collectively are worth a staggering $45 billion, and franchise values rose 23 percent alone in 2013, according to Forbes magazine.

On the field, the game is faster and the hits are harder than ever before. Club Member David Kirtman knows exactly what’s it like to give and receive those bone-crunching tackles. He played in the NFL for three years.

“In the pros, every guy is a beast. You have to be on your game 100 percent of the time. And the commitment is a lot more. That’s why people fall so quickly in the NFL. This is your job. This needs to be something that you are living and breathing, not just when you go to the facility,” he told my colleague Nick Narigon for this month’s cover story, “For the Love of the Game.”

Now retired and living in Tokyo, Kirtman can sit back and enjoy next month’s NFL showcase event, the Super Bowl, at the Club’s annual party. And he doesn’t have to worry about bruises and sprains the day after.

If you have any comments about anything you read in iNTOUCH, please e-mail

them to [email protected], putting “Letter to the Editor” in the subject title of

the mail.

Contributors

Prior to arriving in Japan in 2012, Nick Narigon was weeklies editor for the Des Moines Register in Iowa and spent two years in New Jersey as the special sections editor for the Press of Atlantic City. An assistant editor in the Club’s Communications Department, he has also written for The Wall Street

Journal Asia, Time Out Tokyo and Tokyo Art Beat. For this month’s iNTOUCH, Narigon meets with former American football-playing Members and learns about the Club’s Toastmasters group.Nick Narigon

Originally from New York, Efrot Weiss is a cross-cultural corporate trainer with a fascination for Japanese culture and travel. Away from the Kanto sprawl, her favorite spots include Nozawa Onsen, Niseko, the Kiso Valley, Karuizawa and Nagasaki. A Member of the Club since 2002, she is a keen student of Japanese ink painting. For her regular Cultural Insight column this month, she delves into Japanese New Year rituals and the practice of renewing lucky charms for the coming year.

Efrot Weiss

To advertise in iNTOUCH,contact Rie Hibino:[email protected]

For membership information,contact Mari Hori:[email protected]

Tokyo American Club2-1-2 Azabudai, Minato-ku,Tokyo 106-8649

www.tokyoamericanclub.org

Editor Nick Jones [email protected]

Assistant Editor Nick Narigon

DesignersEnrique BalducciAnna Ishizuka

Production AssistantYuko Shiroki

ManagementAnthony L CalaGeneral Manager Wayne Hunter, DirectorGMO & Membership Business OperationsBrian Marcus, Asst GM Business Operations Scott Yahiro, DirectorRecreation Nori Yamazaki, DirectorFood & Beverage Jonathan Allen, DirectorMember Services & Guest Studios

Business SupportLian Chang, Asst GM Business Support Darryl Dudley, DirectorEngineering Shuji Hirakawa, DirectorHuman Resources Naoto Okutsu, DirectorFinance Toby Lauer, DirectorInformation Technology

Shane Busato, DirectorCommunications


BOARD OF GOVERNORS

The New Year in Japan allows us to comfortably glide into the start of year, since Japan celebrates the

occasion more extensively than most Western nations. I would think that many of you have made your first visit (hatsumode) of 2015 to a temple or shrine or are planning to go soon.

Our family usually visits Zojo Temple, only a 10-minute walk from the Club. There, we cast our previous year’s lucky charms into the sacred fire (you can read more about this practice in Efrot Weiss’ piece on page 34), which is blessed by the temple’s Buddhist priests, before buying new charms for the coming year and choosing an omikuji, or fortune slip. If it predicts good luck for the year, I keep it in my billfold. If it’s bad, though, I’ll tie it to a branch or a designated spot in the temple grounds.

A good spot to test your luck would be at next month’s annual Super Bowl bash at the Club. Held this year on February 2, it’s always full of fun and surprises, and the Culture, Community and Entertainment Committee does a n a mazing job of sponsor ing it . With my omikuji in my hand, I’ ll be heading to the New York Ballroom to join the betting pool and lucky draws. Incidenta l ly, you can read about a number of former footba l l-play ing Members on page 22.

case, I think sheep suggests cooperation between people and teamwork. In the context of the Club, I believe the Club’s volunteer leaders already work well with management and will continue to do so this year.

During my first year sitting on the Board and several committees, I was greatly impressed by the hard work and dedication of the governors, committee members and management. Before voting on any proposal, the Board and committee members receive thorough information from the management team. If the quality and quantity of the information is inadequate, the proposal is postponed unti l a l l the facts are received. Since the interests of the Club’s volunteer leaders and management are aligned, decisions can be made efficiently.

This Club team will be working to provide greater value and even more opportunities for Members over the coming year. Since we’re at the start of the year, a time for resolutions, why not browse the voluminous list of activities and programs already available and start something new? There’s no better time than now. o

For the most up-to-date list of events, visit the Club Calendar page of the Club website.

In the context of the Club, I believe the Club’s volunteer leaders already work well with management and will continue to do so this year.”

“

The Year of Teamwork

by Mark MillerGovernor

What does the year of the sheep hold for the Club? Some prefer to use the word ram for the zodiac animal because they think sheep sounds a little meek. In any

5

MANAGEMENT

Member-centric culture by developing new Member-focused programs and services while delivering on our mandate of providing Member value.

Management will continue to work closely with the committees and Board of Governors to implement strategic projects, and we are particularly excited about the launch of a new, third-floor dining concept to replace Decanter, as well as the rebirth of Vineyards, a coffee hub from the old Azabudai Club, upgrades to Traders’ Bar and the Winter Garden, the creation of a youth center and the launch of the new Club website.

The challenge now is to make these

Your Club had a challenging yet prosperous 2014, which means that we can welcome this year, 2015,

with excitement and zeal. Together, we achieved key goals and

milestones last year that will serve as a foundation for our continuous growth. And by refocusing our attention on business basics and the Club’s core strengths, we made tremendous financial accomplishments for the second year in a row.

We have also achieved significant growth in membership. The number of Members is now at its highest since the global financial crisis in 2008 and it is nearing the Club record, set in 2001.

This year, we will channel our efforts into realizing our vision of being at the forefront of Asia’s private membership clubs. We will continue to reinforce a

projects a success while developing our knowledge of Member expectations in all areas of the Club. We also need to recognize new possibilities, respond to changing circumstances with agility and be hungry to improve, rather than merely accept the status quo.

Pursuing long-term goals and following a business roadmap is crucial, too. Our three-year business plan, which was developed last year, will be instrumental to our success and will help us achieve our business goals along the way.

The Club is a family of people who collectively have an immense amount of experience and expertise in a variety of fields and vocations. And our ability to connect with this network is one of our strengths. We are grateful to our Members, who are passionate and forever willing to share their thoughts and opinions about their Club. That feedback is useful and keeps us in tune with trends and Member views. We are always listening.

The past year had a significant impact on us, and I would like to thank you all for your support. I’m sure the year ahead will bring its own challenges, but by working together, keeping focused on our priorit ies and putt ing our Members first, I know we will realize our ambitions. Happy New Year. o

Exciting Times

by Tony CalaGeneral Manager

We will continue to reinforce a Member-centric culture by developing new Member-focused programs and services while delivering on our mandate of providing Member value. ”

“


What’s on in January

Sunday25Diary of a Wimpy Kid EventKids ages 8 to 12 learn how to keep a journal or scrapbook, just like their favorite fictional hero. 1:30 p.m. ¥3,000 (includes a copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long

Haul and a blank journal).

Saturday–

Sunday17–18Birth Preparation for CouplesExpectant parents prepare for the arrival of their bundles of joy during this Women’s Group class. 10 a.m.–4 p.m. ¥34,300. Sign up at Member Services.

15Men’s Golf Group Kickoff PartyClub golfers launch the season and present awards with a casual get-together. 6:30 p.m. Find out the group’s picks of Kanto’s courses on page 32.

Thursday

1Club ClosureThe Club takes a break on New Year’s Day but welcomes back Members on January 2.

2Mommy and Toddler TimeMeet fellow moms and toddlers while building your own support network at a fun, weekly get-together at the Childcare Center. 2 p.m. Free. Continues every Friday.

Friday 2–3New Year’s BowlingThe Bowling Center welcomes families over the New Year’s weekend for fun on the lanes, games and prizes.

Friday–

Saturday

Friday30All-American Friday FeastHook up with friends at a Café Med booth for all-you-can-eat Chicago-style pizza, pasta and other tasty treats. 5 p.m.

2–4New Year’s BuffetWith the countdown parties done, kick off 2015 with a family-friendly smorgasbord of tasty eats at Rainbow Café. 11 a.m.

Friday–

Sunday

Thursday

Thursday29EIEIO Wine Dinner with Jay McDonald and Steve ConwillWinemaker Jay McDonald and vineyard owner Steve Conwill host an evening of luscious Oregon wines. 7 p.m. Read more about Club Member Conwill’s wine adventure on page 9.

Saturday–

Monday

Saturday 31–231Sapporo Snow Festival Preview TourWander around the intricately carved snow and ice sculptures of the world-famous Sapporo Snow Festival before the crowds arrive. Sign up at Member Services.

Early Pregnancy and Birth PlanningExpectant moms and dads prepare for the big day during this Women’s Group class. 10 a.m.–12 p.m. ¥6,700. Sign up at Member Services.

(Prices exclude 8 percent consumption tax.)

7Toastmasters LuncheonStart losing your fear of public speaking and improve your leadership skills at this monthly event. 12 p.m. Continues on January 21. Find the full story on page 16.

Wednesday 7Staff ShinnenkaiThe Club closes from 6 p.m. for staff to celebrate the start of the year with a traditional shinnenkai party.

Wednesday Thursday Thursday8 8Toddler TimeA fun, 30-minute session of engaging stories and activities awaits preschoolers at the Children’s Library. 11 a.m. Free. Continues every Thursday.

Squash Social NightThe Club’s squash players enjoy an evening of casual play and a chance to put their skills to the test against former national champion Hitoshi Ushiogi. 6:15 p.m.

Thursday22Gala Yuzawa “Escape to the Slopes” Day Ski TourEnjoy a day on the world-class slopes of Gala Yuzawa in Niigata Prefecture, followed by an optional dip in a muscle-soothing hot-spring bath. Sign up at Member Services.

Friday23Library Book GroupThe Club’s band of book lovers meets at Café Med to discuss this month’s pick, The Happiness Project

by Gretchen Rubin. 11:30 a.m. For details, contact the Library.

Saturday24New Year’s Fortune Maneki Neko MakingMake it a year of good luck by making your own beckoning cat, a traditional Japanese lucky charm. 10:30 a.m. For details on this fun workshop, flip to page 18.

Saturday17Fitness FairStart 2015 on the right foot by attending the Club’s health and fitness expo. Learn about the exciting fitness classes offered this year. 1 p.m. Flip to page 18 for the full rundown.

February

7

EVENTS

Coming up in February

Friday2A New Year, A New YouStart the New Year rejuvenated and refreshed. The Spa is offering something special for all of January. Find the details on page 18.

Wednesday28Spring Enrichment Program RegistrationEnrich your life this spring by picking up a new skill or hobby from the myriad Women’s Group programs on offer. 9:30 a.m. Find out about the learning possibilities on page 20.

12Mudsharks Season StartsThe Club’s youth swim team, the Mudsharks, dives into the Sky Pool for another season of training and competition. More on page 18.

Monday

Monday19Language Exchange CoffeeMingle with friends and new acquaintances while practicing your language skills in a welcoming environment. 10 a.m. New York Ballroom. Free. Sign up at [email protected].

1Tokyo Bay Swim

2Super Bowl XLIX at the Club

3Setsubun Zojo Temple Walking Tour

4Toastmasters Social

Tuesday27Squash Kickoff SocialThe Club’s squash players welcome 2015 with an evening of casual play from 6:15 p.m., followed by food and drinks in the Washington and Lincoln rooms from 8:15 p.m.

Monday19Gallery Reception: Mark VassalloThe Frederick Harris Gallery hosts an exhibition of the works of this talented British photographer. 6:30 p.m. More on page 15.

21Meet the Author: Barry LancetThe Tokyo- and LA-based author discusses how 25 years of editing books on Japan influenced the publication of his thrillers Japantown and Tokyo Kill. 7 p.m. Details on page 10.

WednesdayTuesday20Domaine Le Soula Wine Dinner with Gérald StandleyBiodynamic winemaker Gérald Standley introduces his nature-aligned wines from the foothills of the French Pyrenees. 7 p.m. Learn more on page 8.

Sunday4Seven Lucky Gods Walking TourAmass good luck for the coming year by joining this tour to the temples of the seven lucky gods in the Tokyo district of Yanaka.

Monday–

Friday5–9Camp Discovery: Holiday EditionA weeklong session for ages 3 to 5 that features arts and crafts, music, dance and fun. ¥40,000 per session. Sign up at the Recreation Desk.

Monday5Adult Swim Programs StartThe Sky Pool launches another semester of aqua workouts and fun for adults. Details on page 18.

Saturday10Kakizome: New Year’s CalligraphyPut your New Year’s resolutions into writing at this fun workshop. 10 a.m. Page 18 has more.

Saturday10New Member OrientationThe Club’s newest Members learn about the Club while forging new friendships. 10 a.m. Washington and Lincoln rooms. Contact the Membership Office to reserve your spot at least one week in advance. Continues on January 28.

Tuesday27Snowshoeing Fun in Minakami TourSnowshoe on a guided course and trek through the forest and snow fields of Minakami with English-speaking guides. Find out more at Member Services.

Monday26Coffee ConnectionsWhether you’re new to Tokyo or you just want to meet new people, drop by this free Women’s Group gathering. Contact the Women’s Group Office to organize free childcare. 10:30 a.m.

7Carpet Auction

9 Language Exchange Coffee

10Daishichi Sake Dinner

11Seafood Buffet

12Ladies Golf Group Kickoff Party

14Father-Daughter Dinner Dance

18Churrasco Night

WINE & DINING

At the start of each winter, winemaker Gérald Standley sticks a manure-filled cow horn into the coarse soil of Le Soula’s

vineyards in the foothills of France’s Pyrenees mountains.

The horn is one of two fundamental preparations—dubbed 500 and 501—in biodynamic viticulture, which eschews chemicals in favor of a holistic approach to winemaking. In the spring, the horn is retrieved and its contents spread across the vineyards to enhance the soil and fortify the plants’ roots.

For preparation 501, it is filled with ground quartz and buried in early summer. Later, the mineral is diluted and sprayed on the plants to nourish their leaves. Other techniques use such ingredients as stinging nettle, chamomile and oak bark.

“I am scientific,” says Standley, 35, who will host a dinner at the Club this month. “I have studied lots of science. There are many people who believe it is nonsense, it doesn’t work, there is no scientific proof. Maybe you can’t explain [it], but if you see the results, it works. We produce fine wine every year, [and] we don’t use chemicals.”

The number of French wineries following these principles, conceived by Austrian scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner in

Domaine Le Soula Wine Dinner with Gérald StandleyTuesday, January 207 p.m. New York Bridge, Decanter ¥11,000*Sign up online or at Member Services*Excludes 8 percent consumption tax.

by Wendi Onuki

Working with

Mother Naturethe 1920s, is quietly expanding, Standley says, as they pursue wines with minimal environmental impact. One hundred French producers (and one German peer) belong to the Syndicat International des Vignerons en Culture Bio-Dynamique (SIVCBD), whose members must be organic certified and pass an annual assessment.

According to SIVCBD, practitioners aim “to preserve the fertility of the soil, to allow the vines to flourish in a well-preserved terroir, to let animal and plant life resume its place in the vineyard, and to protect the environment; in this way the wines produced are able to give full expression to the terroir and their quality is optimized.”

Despite being credited with producing superlative results, homeopathic winemaking’s emphasis on astrology and nature cycles, in particular, continues to raise eyebrows. Burgundy critic Alan Meadows once told Fortune magazine that the method “has a cult-like aspect.”

Standley became interested in organic winemaking while working in the vineyards of Bordeaux a decade ago. “I had a headache every night we sprayed chemicals,” the vineyard manager says. “So that’s very selfish, but I didn’t want to die early.”

After discovering on a 2005 trip to New Zealand that his favorite wines there were biodynamically produced, he promptly

wine

dinner

put the philosophy into practice at Le Soula. The 13-year-old Roussillon winery, which boasts vines up to a century old, has been fully biodynamic for four years and is undergoing certification.

Standley relies on essential oils (chiefly lavender, rosemary and tea tree) to treat the plants for significant problems and the moon phases to guide pruning. Old vines are pruned in the descending moon, when sap is in the roots, to protect their energy stores, while young vines are tended in the ascending moon, when sap is near the top, to produce less vigorous growth the following year.

Standley acknowledges that it may all sound outlandish, but the wines speak for themselves. “I hope that mostly people enjoy the wine,” he says, “and it happens to be biodynamic.” o

Onuki is a Michigan-based freelance journalist.

Gérald Standley


WINE & DINING

by Steve Conwill

Oregon

Adventure

Our vineyard wasn’t an impulse purchase, but it happened rather quickly. My wife, Cathy, and I had spent a good part of

the summer of 2003 in the United States, looking for a place to put down roots after 12 years in Japan.

In Yamhill County, Oregon, we tasted a remarkable wine. The Resonance Pinot Noir was an intense, yet brooding wine that morphed in the glass and seemed perfect for any course. We returned to Tokyo, wondering if it would be possible to make a wine like that.

We’d soon find out. In September, the hillside next to Resonance came up for sale. It was raw land, cut with imposing ravines, covered with scrub oak and an occasional Douglas fir. But it had promise. By the end of October, it was ours.

The planning began. We chose varietals and clones, sketched out the blocks, had the land cleared and ordered the young vines (more than 15,000 of them). In the summer of 2004, we moved to Carlton in Oregon and had a fledgling vineyard by the following spring.

Currently, 12 of our 32 acres are planted—10 of Pinot Noir and two of Chardonnay. Though when clones and rootstocks are considered, we have 11 distinct vineyard blocks. Total production is about 1,200 cases.

Although we settled in Tokyo again in 2012, we return to Oregon each fall for harvest. Walking the vineyard daily, we taste the fruit and cut cluster samples to measure sugar and acidity. In most years, grapes ripen to perfection, but just barely. There is always a threat of rain, rot or ravenous beaks. Things seem to work out each year, thanks to our partnership with great winemakers.

While it is sometimes said that wine is made in the vineyard, the finest are made by winemakers who know a site and coax it towards excellence. We were fortunate to meet Jay McDonald early in this endeavor. The former financier, who was a Member of the Club as a child, started selling wine in Oregon in the 1990s.

After a few years of purchasing and blending barrels of wine for sale under his own label, he began buying grapes and making the wine himself. Jay named his winery EIEIO—a whimsical reference to himself.

Jay takes a minimalist winemaking approach, using native yeasts but no enzymes for color extraction. The Pinots are aged in new and used oak barrels, while the freshly pressed Chardonnay juice is fermented in new oak barrels and transferred to older or neutral oak after just two months. This frees the new barrels for his Pinot Noir.

EIEIO Wine Dinner with Jay McDonald and Steve ConwillThursday, January 297 p.m. Manhattan III¥9,000 Sign up online or at Member Services*Excludes 8 percent consumption tax.

Although the wines of Yates Conwill Vineyard exhibit a regional character, they are subtly different from those farmed next door and are notably distinct from those grown in the vineyards across town.

Members at this month’s dinner will enjoy EIEIO-Yates Conwill Pinots from 2013, 2012 and 2011 and Chardonnay from 2013 and 2012. Jay and I look forward to sharing the results of our adventures in Oregon. o

Club Member Conwill is the owner of Yates Conwill Vineyard in Oregon.

winedinner

Steve Conwill

9

Ben Simm

ons

From Corrector to Creator

by Tim Hornyak

Barry Lancet

Ahead of his talk at the Club this month, Barry Lancet explains how he stopped editing other people’s books and decided to write his own.


ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

W hat happens when an antiques expert gets sucked into the investigation of a brazen murder of a Japanese family in San

Francisco? If the expert is tough-guy antiquarian Jim Brodie, a whole lot of ass-kicking ensues.

Barry Lancet’s 2013 thriller Japantown follows Brodie, also co-owner of a detective agency in Tokyo, as he takes on a ruthless, international group of killers, who inhabit the shadowy fringes of Japanese society. The page-turner has been praised for its impressive grasp of Japanese culture, from the quotidian to the esoteric, and it recently picked up the Barry Award for best first mystery novel. There are also plans to turn it into an American TV series.

Lancet, a longtime resident of Tokyo, has followed up Japantown with Tokyo Kill, which begins with an aging soldier being hunted by Chinese triads. The novel serves up plenty of murder and mayhem, as you’d expect from a detective story, but forays into Japanese art and culture lend an intriguing twist to the narrative.

“The hardboiled elements are there, but I didn’t consciously seek them out; they sort of bubble up naturally in the genre and storytelling,” Lancet says during an interview from Los Angeles, where he lives when he’s not in Tokyo.

When I first met Lancet about 10 years ago, he was a Kodansha International editor with his nose buried in a manuscript on crafts. I could never have predicted that he would parlay his 25 years of editorial work on matters Japanese into a successful debut novel.

His timing was close to perfect. Kodansha International—long the foremost publisher of English-language books on Japan, from collections of translated tabloid magazine articles to the authoritative Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia to my own book on Japanese robots—was shuttered by its parent company in 2011, as Lancet was working on his manuscript.

Born in Ohio and raised in California, Lancet first visited Japan in 1976 to see friends. He returned permanently in 1982. His love of crime fiction grew out of his appreciation for works by such American writers as Robert B Parker and John D MacDonald, but his desire to write fiction himself “went through a long gestation period,” he says.

A particular incident helped transform his desire into action. A year into his residence in Japan, Tokyo police sat him down for three hours of questioning. The offense? He hadn’t informed his ward office that he had renewed his visa.

“It was a very clever cat-and-mouse game. At first, I was angry but soon I grew fascinated by the whole process and its psychological undercurrents,” Lancet says. “I decided that maybe I could do a mystery involving Japan, but it percolated for about 10 years before I actually wrote anything.”

Once Lancet secured an agent and began discussions with his publisher, they asked if he was working on a sequel. The talks yielded a two-book deal. Tokyo Kill was published in the fall, and Lancet is hard at work on a third book.

He now receives numerous inquiries from would-be novelists about his success, and he offers writing tips on his website. He says one of the biggest challenges was ignoring a quarter-century’s worth of habits.

“It took me a long time to get into the state of mind where I’m free of any inhibitions and I can just sit down and write,” he says. “I was an editor for a long time and I had to stop editing myself. I had to turn that switch off and it was extremely difficult.”

Writers also have to move beyond their ego and stop thinking that every word they write is a reflection on their ability, Lancet adds. But he didn’t forget everything about being a critical reader. His literature studies at school, he says, helped him construct a compelling plot and understand what works in a story.

“It ’s a n i nter na l G eiger counter,” he says. “I’ll go over what I’ve written five or 10 times to the

point where it has to entertain me the fifth time I read it. If it doesn’t, it needs something else.”

With promotion engagements for Tokyo Kill both in Japan and the United States, Lancet says he’s happy to have one foot on each side of the Pacific.

“There are so many great things about Japan, but also good things about the States that I like, so to enjoy the best of both and not forsake one for the other has always been my goal.” o

Hornyak is a Tokyo-based freelance journalist.

Japantown is available at the Library

Meet the Author: Barry Lancet Wednesday, January 217–8 p.m. Toko Shinoda Classroom¥1,500*Sign up online or at the Library *Excludes 8 percent consumption tax.

11

Book Bucket List

January is the month of ambitious resolutions and plans. In that spirit of list making, the Library has put

together a rundown of must-reads for 2015. All titles are available at the Library.

Japanese talesShikibu Murasaki’s classic The Tale of Genji, set in 11th-century Kyoto, depicts a world of courtly manners and love affairs.

In 1968, Yasunari Kawabata became the first Japanese author to win the Nobel Prize. Thousand Cranes is one of his most renowned works.

Also worth a peek: Silence (Shusaku Endo); Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Yukio Mishima); A Personal Matter (Kenzaburo Oe); I Am a Cat (Natsume Soseki)

European novelsMonsters, sirens and sorceresses abound in one of the oldest adventure stories. Travel with Odysseus on his remarkable journey home in The Odyssey by Homer.

Virginia Woolf ’s To the Lighthouse is a beautiful, wistful meditation on time and memories, set between the two world wars.

Also worth a peek: Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë); Great Expectations (Charles Dickens); Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy); War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)

American classicsLittle Women (1880) by Louisa M Alcott and The Age of Innocence (1920) by Edith Wharton share Jane Austen’s keen observation of society, while On the Road by Jack Kerouac and Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were both groundbreaking in their depiction of lives outside conventional American society.

In 1954, the Nobel Prize judges singled out The Old Man and the Sea for demonstrating Hemingway’s “mastery of the art of narrative…and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style.”

Also worth a peek: The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner); The Great Gatsby (F Scott Fitzgerald); To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee); Tales of Terror and Fantasy (Edgar Allan Poe)

A return to childhoodAll ages will delight in the fantastical

adventures of Alice (Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll), Charlie (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl) and the Pevensie children in Narnia (Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis).

Also worth a peek: Fairy Tales and Stories (Hans Christian Andersen); Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren); Winnie the Pooh (AA Milne); Anne of Green Gables (LM Montgomery)

Contemporary titlesNobel Prize winner JM Coetzee’s elegant prose in Disgrace delivers a punch to the heart and resonates long after you’ve read it.

“Strangers in a strange land” aptly describes characters in both Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières and Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda.

Also worth a peek: The Handmaid’s Ta l e ( M a r g a r e t A t w o o d ) ; T h e Ma g u s ( Joh n Fow le s) ; C a t c h -2 2 (Joseph Heller); Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) o

Takahashi is the Library’s senior librarian.

by Sarah Takahashi

off theshelf



Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

John Berendt’s 1994 novel is a glorious

exploration of Savannah, a city filled with

intriguing characters and haunted by ghosts.

The book provides the reader with just

the right blend of the informative and

the descriptive, as the author deftly

documents the architecture and society

that make up the oldest settlement in the

state of Georgia.

Alongside his evocation of the city

and its inhabitants, Berendt follows

the sensational murder mystery that

dominated headlines in 1981.

Some Members may remember the film of

the same name, starring Kevin Spacey as

the antiques dealer on trial for murder.

buried treasures

The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis

Baruch Kotler, a disgraced Israeli politician, is driven

out by political opponents after refusing to back

down over West Bank settlements. He eventually flees

with his mistress to Yalta, where he faces the ultimate

reckoning, both as the betrayed and the betrayer.

A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride

This acclaimed debut novel begins with the female

narrator’s navigation of an abusive upbringing and

the lingering effects of her brother’s childhood brain

tumor. We follow her through adolescence and her

battle to become a well-balanced adult, in spite of her

turbulent surroundings.

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs

The heartbreaking story of a black student from a

poverty-stricken Newark neighborhood who secures

a place at Yale University, only to lose his life on the

streets of New Jersey. A book that encapsulates the

issues of race, class, drugs, community and education

in modern America.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Seventeen-year-old Mia has lost her memory in an

accident. As her medical team, friends, boyfriend and

extended family care for her, her observations reveal

powerful memories, from her passion for classical

music, her relationship with her boyfriend and her

bond with her family. Hollywood’s adaptation was

released last year.

Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming

A raw portrayal of the actor’s emotional and physical

abuse at the hands of his father as a child and his

pain as an adult. Striking, passionate and wickedly

humorous, Cumming delivers a wonderful and

heartbreaking piece that will have readers laughing,

even as it touches their hearts.

The Short Seller by Elissa Brent Weissman

Lindy Sachs is granted $100 and access to her

father’s online trading account as a way to ease her

boredom while she is absent from school. The 12-year-

old quickly becomes adept at e-trading and her

investment grows. But some adult-sized trouble is just

around the corner.

Library & Children’s Library Daily: 9 a.m.–8 p.m. Tel: 03-4588-0678 E-mail: [email protected]

Reviews compiled by librarian Alison Kanegae.

newreads

Compiled by senior librarian Sarah Takahashi.

13

Sci-fi films like last year’s Interstellar fascinate me, and I haven’t failed to see a single one so far. Like many other people, I’m intrigued by the final frontier of space.

Interstellar, about a team of explorers that travels beyond the galaxy to ensure mankind’s survival, should definitely be viewed on the big screen and preferably at an IMAX theater, with an impeccable sound system (failing that, on DVD from the Video Library). The special effects are mind-blowing, as they were in 2013’s Gravity.

Still, the audience is split about Interstellar, the latest mindbender from director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception) and starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. Viewers seem to either treasure the movie as a truly spectacular visual work or they judge it as substandard compared to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

I admit that I am leaning toward the latter camp. It is very close to 2001 and die-hard fans of the Stanley Kubrick 1968 classic will vehemently argue that Interstellar is not an equivalent piece of cinema. Of course, this is a generational issue. If a person sees a groundbreaking movie in their youth, they are so impressed by it that claims about a film made decades later that rivals the original are regarded as blasphemous.

We tend to believe that a movie from “our time” is superior and no other movie is able to evoke those emotions we first experienced years ago. No doubt, I will see another sci-fi adventure movie in the future that, although in the same vein as Interstellar, won’t compare to Interstellar’s high standard.

The main theme of Interstellar is what touched me: the idea that love alone is able to travel through time as well as space. Love is the connection we feel with one another and what makes us human. So when we feel a deep-rooted passion for a certain film, attempts to dissuade us from our strongly held belief are futile.

Interstellar is a landmark film. It gave me a chance to escape from reality while enjoying a sense of adventure, hope and amazement. It’s a must-see movie and one that gets better with each viewing. o

Lee is a member of the Video Library Committee.

Interstellar is available at the Video Library.

by Lance E Lee

AC T IONGuardians of the Galaxy

Space adventurer Peter Quill (Chris

Pratt) forms an uneasy alliance with a

group of extraterrestrial misfits mixed

up in a mission to save the galaxy.

COMEDYThe Trip to ItalyBritish comedians Steve Coogan and

Rob Brydon take a grand culinary tour

of Italy, indulging in crackling banter

while dining in picturesque settings

from Liguria to Capri.

Dawn of the Planet of the ApesTen years after a pandemic disease, the

surviving apes and humans struggle

to coexist. Treachery and violence

threatens to tear apart the uneasy truce.

Starring Andy Serkis and Gary Oldman.

Magic in the MoonlightThe latest whimsical romantic comedy

from American director Woody Allen

revolves around a British illusionist

(Colin Firth) recruited to debunk a

highly convincing mystic (Emma Stone).

DR AMAWhen the Game Stands TallCalifornia football coach Bob Ladouceur

(Jim Caviezel) takes an obscure high

school team onto the national stage

with a record-shattering win streak.

The Hundred-Foot JourneyAn Indian family opens a restaurant

in France where they haplessly

become embroiled in a feud with

their neighboring restaurateur, a

cantankerous Michelin-starred chef

(Helen Mirren).

Did you know? If you don’t watch enough DVDs to commit to a monthly fee, à la carte

membership allows you to rent movies for ¥400 a movie, or ¥200 for a

short feature.

Reaching for the Stars

flickpick

new movies

Video Library Daily: 9 a.m.–8 p.m. Tel: 03-4588-0686 E-mail: [email protected] Reviews compiled by Nick Narigon.



by Nick Narigon

When he was 20 years old, Londoner Mark Vassallo arrived in Japan by way of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. He was intent on studying Zen Buddhism.

For months, he lived at a temple in the mountains of Yamanashi Prefecture. He performed Buddhist rites day and night, striving to empty his mind and reach a state of Zen.

Now an accomplished photographer, the 43-year-old will exhibit a collection of his flower portraits at the Frederick Harris Gallery this month.

The tenets and dichotomies of Zen Buddhism are evident in Vassallo’s pure, stark images. According to the artist, the life cycle of a flower, from “birth” to death, represents complete and perfect beauty.

Vassallo’s approach to his subjects, which he treats the same as a photographer would a human model, is one of patience and respect. He continuously shoots the flowers from bud to blossom over several days.

“Each flower has her own distinctive character and temperament and is in constant dynamic motion,” he says. “They open to the warmth and close to shy away from the cold, turning and stretching always toward the light until they eventually give up their petals.”

For his work, Vasallo was awarded a Taylor Wessing London Elle commendation in 2011 and a 2008 award from the Art Directors Club of New York. His photographs are widely collected and are on display at the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts in Yamanashi.

ExhibitionJanuary 19–February 8

Gallery ReceptionMonday, January 196:30–8 p.m.Frederick Harris Gallery (B1 Formal Lobby)Free Adults onlyOpen to invitees and Members only

Mark Vassallo

All exhibits in the Frederick Harris Gallery are for sale and can be purchased by Membership card at the Member Services Desk. Sales of works begin at 6 p.m. on the first day of the exhibition.

15

by Nick NarigonPhotos by Benjamin Parks

From overcoming stage fright to learning to lead, the reasons for joining the TAC Toastmasters Club are many.

Learning to Speak Easy

¥1,140

¥1,430

¥1,900 ¥1,430

¥1,900

WEEKEND

Every Saturday and Sunday from October 4

11 a.m.–3 p.m.

American Bar & Grill

¥3,950* (includes brunch buffet and one main)

Open to Members ages 13 and above (teenagers

must be accompanied by an adult Member)

*Excludes 8 percent consumption tax.

WINNER Ease into the day with a dazzling spread of brunch favorites. Weekends will never be the same again.

O ne morning, four years ago, Juan Rabanal’s legs went numb. They felt like they were filled with sand. Then

blood began to run from his nose. When he woke up, he was in a Tokyo hospital bed, with no recollection of how he had gotten there.

The 27-year-old, who was about to start a new job with a fashion company and a university master’s program, had suffered a stroke and had been unconscious for 24 hours.

“To be very young to have a brain stroke means you have to have high blood pressure,” says the Club Member, now 31. “In my case, it wasn’t so severe, but, of course, it affects you. Life is not like it was before.”

Rabanal lost his memory and about 30 percent of his mobility. After two years of rehabilitation, he regained most of his motor and sensory skills. But he still suffers lapses in concentration and some problems with speech.

“Sometimes I might get lost. I don’t remember names like I used to. I have to read off of notes. That is normal, of course, it’s just a process,” he says. “The body needs to get back to reset mode.”

To improve his articulation and vocabulary recall, Rabanal’s therapist recommended Toastmasters International, the public speaking organization that was founded in the United States 90 years ago. In November, he attended his first meeting at the Club. By his second session, Rabanal was leading the proceedings as “toastmaster of the day.”

Juan Rabanal


RECREATION & FITNESS

Toastmasters SocialWednesday, February 44:30–7 p.m.Washington and Lincoln rooms¥6,500*Adults onlySign up online or at the Library*Excludes 8 percent consumption tax.

“I was nervous, of course, because you are out of your comfort zone,” he says. “I do speak at the company every week, but, of course, it’s the same faces and you talk about things you know: the industry.”

Started in 2013, the TAC Toastmasters Club (one of 14,650 Toastmasters clubs worldwide) draws around 20 participants to each meeting. During vibrant get-togethers, group members deliver speeches, provide feedback, serve as timekeeper or monitor speakers’ ums and ahs.

The group’s president, Makoto Ishiwata, attended his first Toastmasters meeting four years ago to improve his leadership skills. Acknowledging that people join for different reasons, he says that Rabanal’s story is an inspiring one.

“It is not an easy thing to give a Toastmasters speech, much less serve as toastmaster of the day. I really admire him,” Ishiwata says.

Actor Drian Von Golden is Japan’s reigning Toastmasters English speech champion and has made 284 Toastmasters speeches. Although he’s a professional performer, he says he joined Toastmasters to build his confidence.

“It is hard to get your personal message across in any situation, and Toastmasters is the best way to get practice to do that,” says the Australian. “If I compare it to theater, theater has this safety bridge called the fourth wall. But with a group of people in a room, you are directly talking to them. There is not a fourth wall. And then you get the immediate feedback that you can’t escape from. There is a nakedness there that can’t be replicated.”

Club Member Michelle Herring says that while Toastmasters can be intimidating at first, people of all professions and vocations can benefit from the program.

“We all have occasions where we have to say something somewhere, even if it’s one-on-one or before a group. Just to be more comfortable putting your thoughts together, articulating them, learning to use voice moderation and to gesture and use eye contact, all of these are useful skills,” says Herring. “I think now I perform better. I am not panicked.”

Herring faced a particularly emotional challenge last September, when she delivered the eulogy at her father’s funeral.

“Toastmasters has helped me with something that was terribly important to me in my life,” she says. “It is a supportive environment. You aren’t going to stand

Change is on the waywww.tokyoamericanclub.org

out as someone who did or didn’t do well. Everything about the meeting is providing continuous feedback to the participants, and you get good tips and comments. Each time you come back, you have another experience and another opportunity for growth.” o

The TAC Toastmasters Club meets the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Drian Von Golden

17


Going the DistanceSwim the length of Tokyo Bay this February—from the warmth of the Sky Pool.Forgoing the frigid waters and currents, participants have four weeks to complete 73 kilometers—the equivalent of swimming from the Miura Peninsula to Tsukiji. Swimmers can also aim for closer targets like Yokosuka (20 kilometers) or Yokohama (42 kilometers).Winners in the men’s and women’s categories will receive a 60-minute Spa treatment.

Tokyo Bay SwimFebruary 1–28¥2,500 (includes a T-shirt)Sign up at the Sky Pool Office

Making a SplashOpportunities abound at the Sky Pool this year. Check out the range of swim programs at the Club’s aqua hub.

Adult programs start: January 5Mudshark swim team season start: January 12Private and group swim programs start: January 19For more information, contact the Sky Pool at 03-4588-0700 or [email protected].

F I T N E S S A R T S & C R A F T S

Building a New YouThe Club helps Members get fit and healthy for the year with an afternoon of fitness fun. The Fitness Fair features a joint Zumba and yoga class, plus a fitness challenge, door prizes and free childcare.

Fitness FairSaturday, January 172–5 p.m.Gymnasium¥1,200Ages 16 and aboveTickets available at the Recreation Desk and Fitness Center

Precious MomentsDads and their little princesses, ages 5 to 13, enjoy a magical evening of mouthwatering food, music, dancing, gifts and photo keepsakes.Ahead of the fun, girls are invited (at an additional cost) for a professional makeover at The Spa.

Father-Daughter Dinner DanceSaturday, February 145–8 p.m.New York BallroomSign up at the Recreation Desk

Forging Good FortuneArtist and instructor Sanae Takahata hosts a creative workshop of making traditional maneki

neko beckoning cats—the perfect lucky charm for any home.

New Year’s Fortune Maneki Neko MakingSaturday, January 2410:30 a.m.–12 p.m.Yukiko Maki and Toko Shinoda classrooms¥3,500Sign up online or at the Recreation Desk

Auspicious WordsJoin this cultural workshop of written resolutions for New Year.

Kakizome: New Year’s CalligraphySaturday, January 1010–11:30 a.m.Activity Room¥2,000Sign up online or at the Recreation Desk

Prices exclude 8 percent consumption tax.

A New Year, A New You

The Spa proudly uses products by

To book a treatment, contact The Spa at 03-4588-0714 or [email protected]–Saturday: 10 a.m.–8 p.m. | Sunday and national holidays: 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

For all of January, book one of two skin-replenishing and moisturizing packages* to receive a special Spa giveaway.

• 60-minute Detox Body Wrap + 30-minute Swedish Massage: ¥14,400 (original price: ¥19,000)• 60-minute Gentle Facial: ¥9,600 (original price: ¥12,000)

*Packages may not be combined with other promotional offers.


FA M I LY


KICK OFF THE YEAR IN STYLEFrom low-key corporate get-togethers to show-stopping shinnenkai, the Club’s professional event planners can set you up for success in 2015.

To book your New Year shinnenkai and to find out about our party options, which start from ¥9,900 per person, contact us at 03-4588-0308 or [email protected]. Terms and conditions may apply. Prices exclude 8 percent consumption tax.

www.banquets.tokyoamericanclub.org


Flower Fanaticsby Rob GossPhotos by Kayo Yamawaki

With registration for another semester of Women’s Group enrichment programs set for this month, iNTOUCH takes a seat at the back of one class.



The gentle scent of sweet pea and conifer punctuates the air, as Chikako Yoshimoto explains how to make the advent candle arrangement before her.

“I want to keep the design compact, not bushy, and I want to group the colors. It should be simple, but attractive,” the Club Member and instructor says, trimming the stalks of several claret-colored sweet peas before using them to accent one end of the low, rectangular decoration.

Eight students, including first-timers and some who attended all of Yoshimoto’s previous European-inspired f loral arrangement classes, are positioned around a table one weekday morning in December.

One of the regulars is Keiko Kaburagi, who has also studied traditional ikebana flower arrangement. She says she was first drawn to the program after attending the monthly Women’s Group luncheons.

“Whenever we have a group lunch, Chikako prepares an arrangement for the table. The designs are always subtle, yet beautiful—something I feel I could put in my small Japanese home. I want to be able to make my own like that,” Kaburagi, 56, says.

Yoshimoto, 47, began studying floral arrangement almost 25 years ago. She now owns a floral design studio, Felce, in Akasaka, where she teaches. She also produces arrangements for businesses, events and weddings.

Besides studying in Japan, Yoshimoto has taken floral arrangement courses in Britain, at the prestigious Constance Spry Flower School, the Netherlands and France, where she earned the position of art director from the French Floral Art

Association and a diploma in artistic floral animation from an organization affiliated to France’s Ministry of Agriculture.

“I started with Japanese ikebana, but, for me, ikebana used limited materials and space. I wanted to use my imagination more,” she says. “In England, I learned classic, old-fashioned f loral arranging, and I fell in love with English gardens, while Dutch-style arrangement taught me to be more technical. In France, the use of color is very nuanced, and I learned a lot about color coordination and subtlety. I enjoy being able to draw on all these elements.”

Students at the class take around an hour to complete their advent candle arrangements, but preparations for each session begin weeks before, Yoshimoto explains.

“About two weeks before each class, I start searching for materials and plan the design,” she says. “Color coordination is the most important aspect for me, and with this design I wanted warm tones, with the beige candle being the color base I built around and the deeply colored sweet peas adding to that. The green conifer adds depth like a forest.”

With the spring semester of classes set to begin soon, Yoshimoto is already thinking about possible designs and arrangements to reflect the season.

“In spring, bulbs represent the season but also add longevity and dynamism to an arrangement by growing and blossoming in the weeks following class,” she says. “It’s important that students can enjoy floral arranging not just in class, but by having an arrangement that lasts for a long time at home, or even creating something that they can modify over time.” o

Goss is a Tokyo-based freelance journalist.

Spring Enrichment Program RegistrationWednesday, January 289:30–11 a.m. (Women’s Group members only: 9:30–10 a.m.)Beate Sirota Gordon Classroom

Chikako Yoshimoto

Keiko Kaburagi

21

David Kirtman


FEATURE

by Nick Narigon

You can watch the video on YouTube.

The University of Southern California (USC) is camped on the University of

Arkansas 21-yard line. Quarterback Matt Leinart calls the play: fullback slide, zone play action right.

From the hike, the offensive line surges right, and the defense follows in pursuit. USC fullback David Kirtman slips to the left into the open flat. Leinart floats a screen pass to the 1.82-meter, 108-kilogram runner. Kirtman makes the catch in stride. There is nothing but green space ahead.

At the 5-yard line, an Arkansas cornerback launches himself at Kirtman’s knees. A hurdler in high school, Kirtman leaps over the defender and, seemingly hanging in midair, tumbles into the end zone for a touchdown.

“For me, jumping that far was a feat,” says Club Member Kirtman of his

performance during that 2005 college football game. His frame fills the Winter Garden chair. “After [teammate] Reggie [Bush] did it in the UCLA game, I told him, ‘That is my move.’”

According to a poll last year, professional NFL football is the most popular sport in the United States, with college football two spots behind. More than 100,000 spectators will attend college football’s championship game in Arlington, Texas, on January 12.

“Football is the greatest sport in the world,” says Member David Leibowitz, a standout college linebacker. “Because with football, the most important aspect is your heart and your desire. Your hustle, your drive, your unwillingness to fail, your unwillingness to be beaten supersedes everything.”

The ESPN sports network declared the USC team, led by coach Pete Carroll (now the head coach of reigning Super Bowl champions the Seattle Seahawks), the best offense in college football history. USC

For the Love of the GameWith the Club set to host its annual Super Bowl bash on February 2, former football-playing Members explain what it takes to compete at the highest levels.

23

It was a special year. In 2013, the Mustangs, the American School in Japan (ASIJ) football team, recorded their first undefeated season in 32 years. The 8-0 record secured the side the Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools title.

Leading the way were quarterback David Hernandez (pictured left) and lineman Josh Dixon, Club Members now playing college ball in the United States.

“We were not supposed to win more than three games,” says Hernandez, 19, a freshman at

Bentley University in Massachusetts. “It was just so much fun playing and continuously winning. The whole season, we were the underdogs before every game, and we just rolled through.”

Hernandez threw for 1,441 yards and 14 touchdowns his senior year and rushed an additional 50 times for 479 yards. He says he owes a bulk of his success to ASIJ’s offensive line, led by Dixon, which allowed only three quarterback sacks.

Dixon, 19, played left tackle and defensive

won the 2004–05 championship game against Oklahoma but lost in the closing seconds of the 2006 Rose Bowl to the undefeated Texas Longhorns in the most watched college football game in TV history.

“We lost to Cal in the fourth game of my redshirt sophomore year, and we didn’t lose another game until the end of my senior year, the game against Texas,” says 31-year-old Kirtman. “We put each other to the test at every practice. That’s what Carroll preached. It was competition every day and it was focusing on the task at hand. The best player played.”

Kirtman, an athletic phenom who ran a 4.55-second 40-yard dash at Mercer Island High School near Seattle, enrolled at USC in the fall of 2002. Carroll arrived on campus the same year and asked Kirtman to switch positions. Instead of taking handoffs and scoring touchdowns, Kirtman’s duties were to block defenders from tackling Leinart and Bush, who won consecutive Heisman trophies, college football’s top honor.

“The level of commitment is so different between the high school and college level,” says Kirtman. “I knew I could run the ball and that was about it. Everything from pass protection to

Kanto Champs

David KirtmanDavid Kirtman playing for USC

Kayo Yamaw

aki


FEATUREFEATURE

reading defenses and blitz pickups was all new. You can’t step on the field if you can’t pick up a blitz.”

By the end of Kirtman’s junior season, he was the full-time starter at fullback, and he was balancing classes at the Marshall School of Business.

“My dad always instilled that football isn’t forever, so you should get your education,” he says. “It’s challenging when you have workouts at 6 a.m. and then you have class until 3, and then you have practice and film until 8, and then you have to start studying, let alone all of the other distractions you have in college.”

Six percent of high school players make the jump to college football. Of those, 1 percent makes it to the NFL.

Kirtman was selected in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL draft by his hometown team the Seattle Seahawks. He stayed with Seattle for two seasons, appearing in six NFL games. In his third season, he bounced between three teams. During his one game with San Francisco, Kirtman missed a tackle. He was cut the next week.

“In the NFL, you have to be 100 percent correct on everything because any minute flaw you have is going to be exploited,” he says. “In college, if you miss a pass protection, your quarterback

gets sacked. In the pros, if you miss a pass protection, your quarterback gets sacked, he causes a fumble and they take it back for a touchdown. Mistakes are exponentially bigger in the NFL.”

During the draft process, a high school ankle injury showed up on Kirtman’s X-rays. He considers himself lucky that that was the only injury he had sustained up to that point.

Leibowitz, 46, says he won’t let his kids play football. “I don’t remember anybody ever talking about concussions, never once,” he says. “‘Yes son, you got your bell rung. Now get back on the field.’ There were times I couldn’t remember who I

end for the Mustangs. He averaged 1.3 quarterback sacks a game and played the last victory with a partially dislocated shoulder.

“Most of the seniors had been together since freshman year,” he says. “We became an offensive unit that was fluid. It was like a machine at times. It was amazing to be a part of something like that.”

Hernandez was actively recruited from American college football programs and he invited Dixon to join him on one of his

visitations. Dixon fell in love with Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and walked on to the football team this fall as an offensive guard.

“It’s not an easy sport. It’s physically demanding,” says Dixon. “At the division III level, they aren’t allowed to give scholarships. You don’t wake up at 6 a.m. for Wednesday lifts because somebody is hanging a scholarship over your head. It’s because you love the sport.”

At Bentley, a division II program,

Hernandez made the switch from quarterback to wide receiver and is the team’s long snapper on punts. He was set to start the last two games of the season at receiver before he injured his knee making a tackle.

“I haven’t seen kids this size play football before,” he says. “I never really knew what hitting was until training camp, and I got hit by a 200-pound, all-American linebacker. He broke my facemask. My facemask bar broke in half and I said, ‘I love this.’”

David Leibowitz

25

“I joined [the X League] because I want to play for the highest level of football competition in Japan,” says Kaoru Nakashima, defensive back for the league’s Bulls Football Club.

The X League is Japan’s corporate-sponsored, semi-pro football league, which has helped the national team win the American Football World Cup twice.

The league’s 18 teams square off in five regular season games from September to October, with the season culminating with the Japan X Bowl in December. The winner faces Japan’s collegiate champion in the Rice Bowl, held January 3 in Tokyo Dome.

was, where I was [and] I couldn’t talk.”The average high school lineman

takes between 1,000 and 1,500 hits to the head each season, some at forces greater than a 40-kilometer-an-hour car crash. In 2011, 55,000 high school football players suffered a concussion. That same year, the NFL implemented strict concussion guidelines.

Leibowitz played high school football in Miami in the early 1980s. In 1983, more Florida high school players signed division I football scholarships per capita than in any other state. Rivalry games were played in the college stadium in front of 20,000 raucous fans.

“We were Miami, man,” says Leibowitz. “High school games in Miami were bigger than college, bigger than the Dolphins. We got death threats. Listen, my high school bus got shot at. It was crazy.”

Even though he was captain of the Killian High School football team and earned all-city and all-county honors, at just shy of 1.82 meters, “Leibo” was deemed too short by the top college football programs. Wofford College in South Carolina (the Harvard of the South) offered a scholarship. Leibowitz

arrived as the prize recruit in 1986.

“I was the big hotshot kid from Miami, and in the first practice I got my bell rung so bad, so hard,” he says. “I’m the guy that used to give those. It just proves the point that anybody playing college ball, they’re the best from their high school.”

His sophomore year, he made 150 tackles (the fourth-highest in Wofford history) and earned All-American honors. By the middle of his junior year, Leibowitz had tallied 105 tackles. But his body was beginning to show the effects. The list of broken bones was long and he couldn’t turn his head while backing a car.

“My whole image of myself and the way I played was reckless abandon: I’m going to

intimidate everybody on the field and I am going to make them wish they had never been born,” says Leibowitz. “How can you be a tough guy if you are afraid to hit?”

Neck and ankle injuries ended the college football career of Member Jack Sakazaki, 68. As a natural speedster and national judo finalist in high school, Japan-born Sakazaki’s skills translated to the football field. But during one game, he collided with a 100-kilo fullback and fractured his fifth vertebra.

That year, 47 kids died from the same injury. Sakazaki’s doctor warned him that another similar hit could render him a vegetable. His parents refused to sign the release form to allow him to play football, so Sakazaki forged a signature.

“When you are young, you don’t care,” he says. “You have no fear. You just want to play.”

Sakazaki earned a scholarship to play football at the University of California, Berkeley, starting at defensive safety for the 1966 undefeated freshman squad.

In the game against Stanford, Sakazaki knocked down passes from future NFL quarterback Jim Plunkett. He also aggravated an old ankle injury. Realizing he would never play at 100 percent, he quit.

Gridiron in Japan

www.xleague.com

Guy Mordoch

Kayo Yamaw

aki


http://www.xleague.com

FEATUREFEATURE

In 1974, though, he joined a fledgling football league in Japan. As a running back, he was named the league’s MVP and helped his team win the Peanut Bowl. At college, turning pro was never a consideration.

“In my days, you went to college to get an education and sports were second,” says Sakazaki. “Today, players are attending college to play football and education is second. They are talking about making payments to [college] football players, which means they are a minor league to the NFL.”

Football didn’t end at college for Member Guy Mordoch, either. In 2005, at 35, he co-founded the Israeli Football League and was the starting nose tackle and captain for the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions.

“I was working full-time. Family, kids, babies at home and a wife who thinks I’m crazy, but I said, ‘OK, let’s do it,’” says Mordoch, whose weight topped 136 kilos in college. “Football is addicting. Once you get into it, you can’t let it go.”

As a high school freshman in Connecticut, Mordoch didn’t know the difference between the offensive or defensive line. By his senior year, he was winning accolades from his school and the local press.

He accepted a scholarship from Pace University in New York City, where one of his four quarterback sacks was televised live on ESPN. After a year, he had to return to Israel to complete his military service.

“Football is a great strategic game,” says Mordoch. “Every step is calculated. Everything has to be in sync to win. As a defensive lineman, I could tell where the ball was going by the position of the offensive lineman’s head.”

Mordoch finally gave up football at the age of 41, when he relocated to Tokyo.

But the game is never too far from his thoughts. “If I had the chance now, I would go play football,” he says. “Any day, any weather.”

Kirtman called time on his career when Seattle cut him at the end of training camp in 2009. By chance, he

Super Bowl XLIX at the Club

Catch all the scintillating action of NFL’s showcase event, live from Arizona’s University of Phoenix Stadium, at the Club’s annual Super Bowl party.

Besides the gridiron, this lively morning features great prizes, betting pools and a hearty breakfast spread.

Monday, February 27:30 a.m.–12 p.m. (kickoff: 8:30 a.m.) New York Ballroom and Brooklyn rooms End Zone (includes reserved seating, breakfast buffet and welcome drink): ¥8,000 (guests: ¥10,000) General seating (includes breakfast buffet and welcome drink): ¥5,000 (guests: ¥7,000) Ages 18 and above Sign up online or at Member Services Sponsored by the Culture, Community and Entertainment Committee


was offered a job in Tokyo. “I was cut six times in three and a half

years. I felt like look, ‘I had a great time, but not a lot of success,’ which was tough to stomach, but it was a good experience,” he says. “Here’s another great opportunity to move on to the next stage in my life.” o

Jack Sakazaki (left), co-captain of the 1965 Fowler High School football team

Jack Sakazaki playing in the Peanut Bowl in Chiba in 1974

27

The Japanese space probe, Hayabusa 2, is hurtling through space on its way to rendezvous with an asteroid that is in orbit between Earth and Mars.

Following a successful launch last month, the spacecraft is due to land on the asteroid in 2018, conduct 18 months of research then return to Earth in 2020. The mission is the second of its kind, after the probe Hayabusa made it home in 2010.

On an annual budget of less than $4 billion (compared with NASA’s $18 billion), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) works on projects in a multitude of fields, from planetary science and space physics to space exploration and engineering.

Christopher Blackerby (pictured) is NASA’s representative in Asia. iNTOUCH’s Nick Jones sat down with the Club Member to talk about Japan’s ambitions in space. Excerpts:

iNTOUCH: How would you assess the space program landscape in Asia?

have been for the last several decades. What’s happening now is there are a lot of new folks coming into the picture. So China is developing fast. They have the capability to launch humans into space; they’re talking about building a space station; they’ve sent a probe to the moon [and] are talking about sending people there. China is doing a lot on the big picture space stuff, but they’re also doing a lot on Earth science, [like] measuring carbon in the atmosphere and understanding climate change. India just had a successful Mars [orbiter] mission recently and they are actively participating in some Earth science research and space science. The other country to mention that is kind of on the next tier is Korea. They are also building their own launch vehicle. When you look at the development of a country’s space capability, you’re generally going to start with Earth science, so countries are interested in data for farming, for fishing, for understanding weather patterns and for understanding things that can impact our daily lives. We see the Southeast Asian countries—Thailand,

Into theUnknown

Blackerby: There’s a lot going on across the board. The largest partner that NASA has in Asia is Japan. With Japan, we have over 40 international agreements that cover the broad spectrum of what NASA does, [including] the most visible, the International Space Station; human spaceflight and exploration; Earth science—satellites looking down; space science—satellites looking up; and aeronautics. So Japan is a top-tier space power, and they

Astronaut Koichi Wakata on the International Space Station


TALKING HEADS

Vietnam, Indonesia—at that level, trying to put up their own satellites and trying to understand the utilization of data.

iNTOUCH: With the recent increase in tensions in the region, is it natural for countries to ramp up the military component of their space programs?

Blackerby: The security aspect of space is obviously there. And where we are seeing it manifested is on the Japan side. For as long as we have cooperated with Japan, they have focused on civil space activities only. Over the last five or six years, we have seen a pretty distinct shift toward more focus on a security use of space. What we from the NASA side and the US government side tend to remind our Japanese counterparts is to not forget about the civil side as well. But we definitely do see a shift in priorities on the Japanese side, priorities away from space exploration, basic R and D [research and development], basic S and T [science and technology] and toward a security use of space.

iNTOUCH: How has collaboration between NASA and JAXA changed over the years?

Blackerby: It hasn’t changed much. Where it has is that we are making sure that where our interests are, from the civil space side, are understood clearly. So, for example, one of the issues we’re interested in is the International Space Station. Japan is a main partner and right now is committed to being a member of the space station partnership until 2020. In January [2014], the US announced that we were going to extend our participation in the space station until 2024. We would love for Japan to do the same.

iNTOUCH: Why is it important that Japan continues its involvement?

Blackerby: I think it’s important that the space station continue, first of all, because really it was just completed. The space station has been continuously occupied since around 2000. But the full space station was [only completed] three or so years ago. The goal of the space station is several: one, to be a foothold for the next steps in exploration. If we’re going to go to the moon, if we’re going to go to Mars, we need to start somewhere, and that’s the place to start—learning how to live in

space. But it’s also a place for research. It’s the most unique science laboratory ever created. It’s in microgravity. So we’ve got science experiments that are just starting to be developed, which, potentially, could impact our lives. And there are businesses that potentially could be interested in doing things in a microgravity environment.

iNTOUCH: Why is there uncertainty about making a longer commitment?

Blackerby: You know, it’s expensive, and there’s a question as to how much return it actually does bring. Japan spends about $350 to $400 million a year on space station operations, experiments and they send a cargo vehicle to the space station. A big concern is a return on investment. So why do we do it? I think it impacts so much of what we do on a daily basis: understanding our environment, improving our air travel, the technology development that comes from spinoffs from NASA.

iNTOUCH: How would you rate Japan’s achievements on its relatively small space budget?

Blackerby: Incredible. They’ve had nine astronauts that have gone into space and the first Hayabusa mission went to an asteroid, picked up a sample of it and brought it back. And no other country has ever done that. So the technology and capability there is fantastic. And Hayabusa 2 will, hopefully, pick up more samples, try and understand the composition of the asteroid and that will help us understand the history of the solar

system. And on the International Space Station, the Japan experiment module, called Kibo, is the largest single module on the space station.

iNTOUCH: Is it likely that Japan will develop a human spaceflight capability?

Blackerby: I think it’s probably not likely in the near term, especially considering the shift in priorities we’re seeing in Japan. It’s also expensive and takes time to do it. If you talk to the JAXA astronauts, they’ll say, “Yes, let’s definitely do this. It’s something we have to do.” As a whole, though, there’s a little more risk aversion we find here. There’s always an element of risk in doing anything unknown and worthwhile. Now, from the space exploration perspective, the risk is a little more pronounced, the money is larger [and] lives are at stake.

iNTOUCH: How do you see Japan’s space program developing in the coming years?

Blackerby: I think there will be an expansion. You go out to ISAS [Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science] in Sagamihara and it’s an exciting place to be. There are a lot of scientists and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan is out there as well. There is a vibrant science community and an interest in technology development and space exploration. There’s a bit of a transition going on in Japan right now. Still, when we talk to people in policy-making positions of power, they still express support for civil space overall. They just say they’re trying to work in a few new priorities, so it could take some time to find some equilibrium. o

Hayabusa 2

29


Proceeds from the annual Carpet Auction allow one scholar each year to continue important research. by Megan Waters

Backing Brain Science

Luna Wahab

Andy Boone

31

INSIDE JAPAN

course in 2013. She hopes to complete her doctorate in 2018.

Married, with a 4-year-old son, Wahab admits she was worried at first at how she would be able to balance her studies and family commitments. “I want to be a good mother, a good surgeon and a good wife all at the same time. I want to keep a balance between them all—this is a challenge of being a woman,” she says.

Having her family with her in Japan, Wahab says, is important and she is grateful to her husband (a visiting scholar at the same university) for his support. “Our goal was whatever we do in life to try to stick together,” she says. “We didn’t want to be a long-distance family.”

Although “research is frustrating when it doesn’t work,” she says it remains fun and rewarding, and she would eventually like to put her knowledge to use in both

clinical work and research. Her “ultimate goal” is to work at the National Institute of Neuroscience in Bangladesh, which was set up by one of her former professors.

For now, with the assistance of the Women’s Group and CWAJ, she is able to don her lab coat and continue her vital investigations. “The support they have provided me is encouraging for me and my life ahead,” she says. “I’m very grateful to them for stretching out their hands to me and making my life relatively easier.” o

Waters is a Tokyo-based freelance journalist.

Luna Wahab’s research represents a beacon of hope for many suffering from mental disorders like autism and schizophrenia. While in

its early stages, her work could one day lead to a much clearer understanding of such conditions and so help doctors treat patients more effectively.

Wahab’s studies of the structure of the cerebral cortex and the brain’s microcircuits are made possible partly by the Women’s Group and the College Women’s Association of Japan (CWAJ).

Cu r rent ly pu rsu i ng a Ph D i n neuroscience and neurology at the Graduate University for Advanced S t u d i e s — c o m m o n l y k n o w n a s Sokendai—at the institution’s Okazaki campus in Aichi Prefecture, Wahab was awarded a CWAJ-Women’s Group non-Japanese graduate scholarship, worth ¥2 million, last year.

“Init ia l ly, I was happy because I was getting financial support. Later on, I realized that you can’t only think about the money, and I got something more,” Wahab, 34, says. “The organization mainly works with women and promotes them. I think this is much more of an important part of the scholarship. The experience of meeting the people within the women’s organization is priceless. It was an unexpected bonus and I got something more to take away from it.”

Establ ished a f ter World War II to help cover the high transportation costs of Japanese students traveling to the United States to study, the CWAJ extended its support in 1972. Its annual scholarships are now presented to female Japanese and foreign students, visually impaired recipients and, more recently, students at Fukushima Medical University School of Nursing.

Funds for t he Women’s Group-sponsored scholarship are raised at the Carpet Auction each Februar y. Hosted by Eastern Carpets of Singapore, the event draws an enthusiastic crowd of bidders and those

Carpet AuctionSaturday, February 7Carpet preview: 5 p.m.Registration and carpet appreciation class: 5:30 p.m.Buffet: 6 p.m.Live auction: 7 p.m.Lucky draw: 8 p.m.Dessert buffet: 9 p.m.New York Ballroom and Brooklyn IFree (includes one drink)Adults onlySign up online or at Member Services

eager to learn more about the handwoven works of art.

With degrees in medicine and surgery from Dhaka University in her native Bangladesh, Wahab decided to switch to her current area of specialty while doing a postgraduate residency in cardiology. Encouraged by a former professor, who “appreciated [her] clinical influences and way of working,” she shifted her focus from the heart to the brain.

But the change meant she had to look overseas for research opportunities. “In Bangladesh, we don’t have research labs for neuroscience, so I had to go abroad to study,” she explains. “The research and instruments involved in neuroscience are very expensive, so we can’t afford them in my country.”

After securing a much sought-after place at Sokendai, Wahab started her

Champion CoursesClub golfers rate their top 10 golf courses in the Kanto area.

With more than 2,300, Japan has the third-highest number of golf courses in the world, after the United States, which

accounts for around half the world’s courses, and Britain.

Ahead of another season of friendly rounds and fierce competition on Kanto’s fairways and greens, members of the Men’s Golf Group (MGG) and Ladies Golf Group (LGG) offer their picks of the region’s golfing spots.

IBARAKIOld Orchard Golf Club This classy Jim Fazio layout is a favorite with the golf group. A beautiful course that winds its way through the stately Ibaraki pine trees and super-slick greens that can catch you out if you finish above the hole. The four-foot, downhill putt on the 18th, nestled below the silver domes of the space-age clubhouse, always sets the pulse racing. MGGwww.oogc.co.jp

Segovia Golf ClubYou’re greeted by the slightly surreal Spanish villa-style architecture of the clubhouse. The interesting course has some long par-4s and lots of lateral water, with steep concrete drops down to the water, which can make for a frustrating and expensive round with those lost balls. Some split fairways give you something to think about coming up to the elevated greens. LGGwww.pacificgolf.co.jp/segovia/

TOCHIGISun Hills Country ClubThis longtime home of the President’s Cup boasts two superb Robert Trent Jones Jr courses, served by a well-appointed clubhouse with Western-style accommodation, private dining rooms and karaoke to boot. A good venue for an overnight trip, you can watch the sunrise through the steam of the rotenburo bath and dream of birdies to come. MGGwww.pacificgolf.co.jp/sunhills/

CHIBACaledonian Golf ClubAn easy drive from Tokyo, this challenging layout has hosted Japan Tour events but is also negotiable by those of us with a more modest golfing talent. Good practice facilities, with a chipping area and putting green, will help you iron out those bumps before you venture forth. MGGwww.caledoniangolf.net

Morinaga Takataki Country ClubWe’ve been traveling to this course for our LGG Championship for the last couple of years. The course is quite forgiving and some of the higher handicappers and more senior golfers enjoy the wide fairways (who wouldn’t?). You can also stock up on snacks at the conveniently located halfway hut. The staff is welcoming, and the play fee includes breakfast and lunch. LGGwww.takatakicc.co.jp

Caledonian Golf Club


Narita Golf ClubThe minute you walk in the door over antique timbers, speckled with the spike marks of golfers past, you realize this is a place where little expense has been spared to create a memorable experience. An interesting layout, with variety, elevation changes and large, receptive greens, it’s at the top end of our price range, but this fails to quell its popularity. MGGhttp://narita-gc.jp

Brick and Wood ClubA great course, with a fearsome reputation. The greens are large and most are elevated and have different levels. If you don’t find the line, a three-putt is on the cards. The challenging layout’s par-3s require some thoughtful club selection. A joy to find a club so close to Tokyo where you can play through—a big plus at this friendly club. LGGwww.brickandwood.jp

Fuji OGM Ichihara Golf ClubFast becoming a favorite with the LGG, the club’s course and greens are well maintained and the staff is friendly, even with limited English. The picturesque course can be quite a challenge, but it promises a great golfing experience, with an economical weekday price to boot. LGGwww.orix-golf.jp/ichihara/

Glenoaks Country ClubWe’re looking forward to returning here this year. While the greens are ordinary and the par-3s aren’t very challenging, there’s a good mix of par-4s and 5s. One of the busier weekday courses, it generally plays in around 2 hours, 15 minutes per nine. There are quite a few trees to look at from the fairway—or from underneath the branches. LGGwww.glenoaks.cc

KANAGAWAHodogaya Country ClubFounded in 1922, this traditional country club is within a 40-minute drive of Tokyo. A scenic and undulating course, with some of the fastest greens in Japan. Despite the premium pricing, it’s a favorite for MGG competitions. Weekday play can be arranged for unaccompanied guests. MGGwww.hodogaya-country-club.jp


Narita Golf Club


33

OUT & ABOUT

Men’s Golf Group Kickoff PartyThursday, January 157 p.m. Washington and Lincoln roomsMGG members: freeSign up online or at [email protected]

Ladies Golf Group Kickoff PartyThursday, February 1212–2 p.m. Washington RoomLGG members: freeSign up at [email protected]

The Club’s two active golf groups organize regular friendly games, tournaments and social events over the year, and the Men’s Golf Group’s packed calendar includes an annual overseas trip, which is to Singapore this year. Golfers of all ability levels are encouraged to attend one of the kickoff parties or visit the Golf page of the Club website to learn more.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

The New Year in Japan is about discarding old good luck talismans and investing in new ones. by Efrot Weiss

Bonfire of the Charms

Be careful what you throw away this New Year. You may be tossing out a deity.

The auspicious decorations displayed in homes all over Japan in anticipation of the New Year (oshogatsu) attract good fortune. But as with talismans purchased throughout the year for their protective power, the spirits embodied in these objects need to be treated respectfully. They shouldn’t be disposed of with ordinary household garbage.

To show their gratitude for the good luck they brought, many Japanese throw these objects on a ritual bonfire. It is also a manifestation of renewal, paramount in Shintoism. Known as dondo yaki, this event takes place in shrines around January 15.

“Dondo yaki marks the end of the

New Year’s rituals,” explains Club Member Mayumi Jones. “We can’t throw away good luck charms. They are very important to the Japanese.”

A bonfire is often built in a shrine’s grounds. New Year decorations, including shimenawa straw rope, kadomatsu arrangements and straw and paper wreaths (shimekazari), daruma dolls, decorative hamaya arrows, written ofuda charms and talismans from the previous year are burned.

As the fire blazes, the priest chants a prayer. The New Year’s deities, or toshigami, are supposedly transported back home on the smoke of the pyre.

“And if you arrive when the bonfire has already begun, you can throw your objects into the fire yourself,” adds Jones.

Objects associated with the previous year’s aspirations are discarded and purchased anew. For instance, daruma dolls, which are a symbol of good luck and resilience, have a one-off use. When a person makes a wish, one eye is colored in. The other eye is filled in when the wish is realized.

Especially popular are omamori. These small amulets consist of a small

piece of paper or wood, inscribed with a sacred text, name of a god or the name of the shrine, tucked inside a vividly colored brocade bag. Providing protection and good luck, these amulets shouldn’t be opened, people believe, for fear they will lose their divine power.

Some temples and shrines are associated with auspiciousness in one particular area of life, from childbirth to health to exams.

“We usually go as a family to a shrine at the start of the year and bring our omamori and ofuda from the previous year,” explains Club member Chieko Latimore. “We then buy an ofuda for the New Year to keep our family safe, to have no fires in the kitchen and things like that.”

Several superstitions are associated with this festival. Standing near the fire is believed to provide immunity from colds, while eating mochi roasted in the fire ensures good health. Spreading ash from the fire over fields produces bountiful crops, and throwing your kakizome (first calligraphy of the New Year) into the fire means enhanced skills—so long as the smoke rises high enough. o

Weiss has been a Club Member since 2002.

Josh McKible


EVENT ROUNDUP

Annual General Meeting November 18

Seven candidates were elected to the Board of Governors

and John Durkin was reselected as Club president at the

Annual General Meeting, which was followed by a casual

party in honor of the Club’s volunteer leaders.

Photos by Kayo Yamawaki

1. (l–r) Vickie Green Paradise, Anne Bille and Per Knudsen 2. Robert

Linington 3. Amane Nakashima and Alok Rakyan 4. (l–r) Greg Lyon,

Club President John Durkin and Brenda Bohn 5. (l–r) Betsy Rogers,

Women’s Group President Linda Schnetzer, Lance E Lee, Therese

Cowled and Karen Thomas 6. (l–r) Machi Nemoto, Betsy Rogers

and Hiroshi Miyamasu

2

1 5

6

4

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EVENT ROUNDUP

Thanksgiving Grand Buffet November 27

While the Club couldn’t organize any games of touch

football, the New York Ballroom did host a sumptuous

spread of traditional Thanksgiving eats, including turkey

and pumpkin pie, for the American holiday.

Photos by Ken Katsurayama

37

EVENT ROUNDUP

Gingerbread Factory December 6

At this popular annual event, families donned aprons and

prepared to get deliciously messy while constructing

their own colorfully creative gingerbread house.

Photos by Yuuki Ide


EVENT ROUNDUP

RCWB In Touch Ad JP Jan 2015, final outlined.indd 1 12/9/14 6:52 PM

EVENT ROUNDUP

Family Christmas Show December 6

The Club kicked off the holiday season with a free yuletide

extravaganza that featured a dazzling magic show, with

magician Steve Marshall, a holiday buffet, craft making and a

surprise visit from Santa.

Photos by Yuuki Ide


EVENT ROUNDUP

Holiday Cheer and ChampagneDecember 11

The Women’s Group wrapped up the year with its annual fun-

filled celebration, complete with a seasonal lunch, bubbly, a

demonstration of sabrage and a holiday sing-along.

Photos by Yuuki Ide

1. (l–r) Nobuko Kosaka, Yuko Adachi, John Owens, Taki Matsubara,

Miyoko Shimizu and Yuriko Hirayama 2. Koki Morita 3. (l–r)

Sumiko Tejima, Elizabeth Butler and Women’s Group President

Linda Schnetzer 4. Miki Saito

1

2

3

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41

CLUB PEOPLE

TAIPEstablished in 2005, TAIP supports more than 45 international preschools and kindergartens in the Tokyo area through professional development, networking and public relations.

www.tokyopreschools.org

Preschools for Preschoolers

Suguru & Nobuko Kimura Japan—Schrodinger K.K. Khalil YounesFrance—Coca-Cola (Japan) Co., Ltd. Kana SatoJapan—Horiko Ltd.Mio & Akihiro TakaokaJapan—Caisu, Inc.Gavin & Miho Raftery Australia—Baker & McKenzieRobert & Itoyo Esposito Australia—PricewaterhouseCoopers AarataInga JezewskaPoland—Baxter Ltd.Jong Chol Lee & Yoon Shin Lim South Korea—Orix Corporation

yokoso

sayonara

Shimpei WatanabeKatsunosuke & Emiko IwataToru & Yoko ShibataSteven & Antonia ParsonsJeremy & Gabrielle MouldingJonathan & Alisha GlaserPeter & Iwona MillsJorge PuentesKunihiro MatsushimaLuca Carlo Nardi & Katia Laurenzi NardiStephane Beaulieu & Aya TanakaNoboru Matsuoka

OHANA Come visit the only international preschool in Moto Azabu where the owners are the teachers, with more than 40 years’ combined experience. Flexible, full and half-day programs and many after-school classes. See play-based learning in action. Call 03-3408-8888.

www.schoolintokyo.com

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF THE SACRED HEARTInspiring hearts and minds, nurturing a passion for learning and a zest for life and preparing women for the world, Sacred Heart is a girls’ school for grades one to 12 and a coed kindergarten.

www.issh.ac.jp

ST. ALBAN’S NURSERY PROGRAMJust around the corner from TAC. Small and personal. Our programs offer each child free choice in a safe, structured, loving environment.

www.saintalbans.jp

James & Nami ManningAustralia—JP Morgan Securities Japan Co., Ltd.Douglas Hymas United States—Bank of New York MellonGrant Carson & Kathryn Juda South Africa—Citibank Japan Ltd.William Schoenfeld & Mika Minohara United States—Asia Pacific Land (Japan) Ltd.Chin-Yu & Mika LinTaiwan—Nomura Securities Co., Ltd.Nigel Bruce United Kingdom—Zurich Insurance Co., Ltd.Gerardo & Erika RodriguezUnited States—Morgan Stanley MUFJ Securities Ltd. Henry & Hitomi Marini United States—Hulu Japan

Aninda Moitra & Kuang-Lin Ke United States—Applied Materials Japan, Inc.Adam Francis & Claire Jin Tang United States—AIG Japan Holdings K.K.Gary Dickerson & Qinghua (Connie) Le United States—Applied Materials Japan, Inc.Tristan & Magdalene Holtam United Kingdom—Applied Materials Japan, Inc.Shane & Sally Hunt United States—Walt Disney Attraction Japan Ltd.Masanori & Miho Hayashi Japan—Hayate Law OfficeSteven HarwoodUnited Kingdom—Lloyd’s Japan, Inc. Aya & Satoru Ogata Japan

Take advantage of this new iNTOUCH advertising option by contacting Rie Hibino at 03-4588-0976 or

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CLUB PEOPLE

Highways and bears is how Marina Borovikova describes the forested expanse between her hometown,

Khabarovsk, and the port city of Vladivostok in the Russian Far East. She corrects herself later. There are Siberian tigers, reindeer and mink as well.

Khabarovsk, with its riverside parks, charming tsarist-era buildings and dubious title of the world’s coldest city of more than half a million people, could well be the antithesis of the Tokyo sprawl. The winters are certainly not for the fainthearted.

“We have snow for seven or eight months and [temperatures can drop] to

Why did you decide to join the Club?“We recently moved to Tokyo from Virginia and had a chance to visit the Club as part of a reciprocal club privilege. We were tremendously impressed with the Club’s facilities. The basketball court, gym, pool and spa options are outstanding. Further, the food options and friendliness of the staff made us feel at home immediately. A great atmosphere, a variety of cuisines and welcoming Club Members—we could not ask for more and had to join.”

(l–r) Sangeetha, Rahul, Nikhil and Raj Narasimhan

Why did you decide to join the Club?“For our active middle school-aged boys, having a place where they can do many of the things they enjoyed back home, from swimming to squash to bowling, has been tremendous. For Shannon, the Tokyo: Here & Now program was helpful during the first weeks of our transition. The Club has also given us opportunities to meet new folks and explore new things. We have also enjoyed the great food and atmosphere at many of the Club restaurants, and we look forward to trying the rest.”

(l–r) Andrew, Shannon, Tommy and Tom Brennan

New Member ProfileRaj & Sangeetha Narasimhan United States—Micron Technology, Inc.

New Member ProfileTom & Shannon Brennan United States—Prudential Holdings of Japan, Inc

employeeof the month

Marina

Borovikovaby Nick Jones

minus 35 or minus 40 [degrees Celsius],” Borovikova, 38, says. “I miss the snow sometimes. Maybe it’s my age and I’m getting [sentimental].”

When she returned to Russia for a vacation with her family almost four years ago in March, her Japanese husband was astonished to see deep snow on the ground, having just admired the annual display of cherry blossoms in Japan.

Borovikova was no less astounded during her first trip to Tokyo seven years ago. “I thought it was beautiful and clean and the people were nice and always smiling,” she recalls. “I really wanted to live here. The people were

different, the lifestyle was different, the food was different.”

After the heavy, “oily” cakes of her homeland, Borovikova says she finds Japan’s sweet treats irresistible. “I need to control myself,” she says with a laugh. To burn off those sugary calories, she runs for up to an hour five days a week at a nearby park in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward.

Helping to keep the Club clean as part of the housekeeping team, Borovikova picked up the Employee of the Month award for November. She joined the Club in 2011. “I like working here,” she says. “I don’t like to stay at home all the time. I like communicating with people.” o

43


BACK WORDS

Halloween last year was Japan’s biggest ever, surpassing Valentine’s Day for the first time in terms of sheer economic impact. While

trick-or-treating has yet to gain a foothold here, last October 31 saw Shibuya and Roppongi overrun with young people dressed as zombies, kittens and everything in between.

While Halloween has only taken root here in the last decade or so, the concept of dressing up has a long history in Japan. After all, we coined the term “cosplay,” a portmanteau of “costume” and “play,” which describes the trend of donning elaborate outfits, often for comic, anime and video game conventions.

Cosplay emerged in Japan as the anime and manga of the 1980s came to be dominated by big characters in wild outfits. The children of that decade emulated the likes of Goku, the cool, powerful hero of

the manga Dragon Ball. Before too long, the spiky hair of Goku became ubiquitous at anime and manga fan gatherings.

Because of its association with games and anime, however, cosplay was a subculture pursuit for many years. After all, cosplaying as Goku is essentially a statement that you want to be Goku. But in a country where social acceptance is everything, few adults were willing to put on an orange jumpsuit and board a packed Saturday afternoon train. Even as cosplay spread to countries like the United States, here it remained the province of diehard fans, confined to such anime and game meccas as Akihabara.

Halloween in Japan has legitimized the practice of playing a different role.

Cosplaying on October 31 says nothing about you beyond the fact that you’re participating in Halloween (a festival with its origins in pagan Britain). And partygoers on Halloween were merely taking advantage of that fact. There’s no real difference between the geeks who founded cosplay in the ’80s and the costume-clad revelers at Halloween-themed clubs. Both were simply enjoying pretending to be someone else.

This party-packed season inspires a lot of reflection on who we were last year and who we’d like to be in the new one. In Japan’s current zeitgeist, it’s difficult to overstate the importance of these gatherings. We’re living in an age in which traditional notions of identity in Japanese society (salaryman, housewife) mean less every day. Couple this with a holiday calendar that encourages a contemplation of the roles we play, and it’s only natural that more Japanese will act on their desires to try out new ones. o

Club Member Kubo is president of the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather Japan Group.

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Japan’s Costume

Compulsionby Akihiko Kubo

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January 2015

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Issue 597 • January 2015

Nurturing NatureBringing an Oregon wine dream to fruition

Green AcresTop 10 Member-selected golf courses in Kanto

Flower PowerBudding florists hone their craft at the Club

GRIDIRON GLORYAhead of the Club’s Super Bowl party, former football players share their passion for the game

january 2015 intouch magazine

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