Japan | My Eyes Tokyo

I felt something strangely familiar about Palestine when I got there.

2011-05-11

Interviewed by Isao Tokuhashi & Mai Namiki Written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Kazuya Ogawa (Part1) Filmmaker Today we’re introducing you to Kazuya Ogawa, a young auteur or film director who made a movie called “Pink Subaru”. The movie is set in Tayibe, a town on the Israeli-Parestinian border. A man fulfilled his heart’s desire and got a new Subaru Legacy, but he was robbed of his treasure on the following day. The story opens from that moment. Some of you may think that the movie depicts a war or is political. If so, it’s totally different from what

Refugees can change their lives by themselves as long as they are in Japan.

2010-09-22

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Kanako Iwase & Arusha（Part2） Nail salon manager We are bringing you part two of the interview with Kanako Iwase, a manager of the nail salon called “Arusha”, which hires refugees as manicurists. In this part, I tell you about her present state and future vision. *Interview at Arusha (Minato-ku, Tokyo) *Edited by Daniel Penso 校正協力：ダニエル・ペンソ日本語 Where did people who took nail art training come from? All over the world. They’ve been given official refugee status and had valid working visas. In order to eliminate the risk of brushing

I didn’t know about refugees in Japan at all.

2010-09-22

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Kanako Iwase & Arusha（Part1） Nail salon manager We’re introducing you to a nail salon called “Arusha“, which is managed by a Japanese young entrepreneur. There are some differences between Arusha and other nail salons. 1) All of the manicurists of Arusha are foreigners. 2) Most of them are refugees. But there’s no somber atmosphere at all in the salon. They welcome you with very friendly smiles. And while you get your nails done, manicurists and customers enjoy talking. I interviewed Kanako Iwase, a representative of Arusha. This interview is divided into

There are many kinds of gaps in the world. Bridging them, that’s my assignment.

2010-08-08

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Naoko Tanase Cooking school representative Today’s interviewee is a Japanese woman who manages a school called ”Niki’s Kitchen”, which operates cooking classes in Tokyo and the suburbs. Its cooking classes are very unique. Firstly, you can learn ”home-style dishes” of different countries from foreign cooks. Secondly, each class is held at a cook’s house. And lastly, you can learn whatever and whenever you want because it’s not membership-based. Those are the most distinctive features of Niki’s Kitchen. I got interested in its concept, “Learning various home-style dishes at foreign cooks’

They are not working as Jews, not working as Palestinians. They are tackling conflicts just as “human beings”.

2010-01-27

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Kenji Sekine (Part 2) Social entrepreneur My Eyes Tokyo is bringing you the interview with Kenji Sekine, a young social entrepreneur who manages the click-to-donate website called “ekokoro!” (It means “Good heart). In this part, we tell you about his method of balancing social action work and profit-making business, and the vision of his ideal world. *You can go to the first part from here! *Kenji Sekine (1976-) Born in Kanagawa, Japan. After graduating Beloit Collage, USA, he worked for several IT companies. He established his own company in 2002 and launched “ekokoro!” in May 2003. He changed

What I’m working on as a BUSINESS is to solve conflicts, poverty, a ban on land mines and so on.

2010-01-27

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Kenji Sekine (Part1) Social entrepreneur We bring you the story of a young Japanese social entrepreneur today. Kenji Sekine, who manages the click-to-donate website called “ekokoro!“, a Japanese counterpart of Care2. The words “ekokoro” significants “Good heart” (the pronunciation of “E” is the same as the one of “ii”, which means “good” in Japanese). At ekokoro!, you donate automatically as soon as you buy something. You don’t need to give any donation because its sponsor companies pay that. Also the companies who sell goods or services can widen their range of

If I didn’t play taiko, I might not be alive, I might be in jail.

2009-07-21

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Isaku Kageyama Japanese drum (taiko) player (Born in the US and raised in Japan) Today we introduce you to a Japanese-American man who inherits the Japanese heritage which has been handed down to him for thousands of years. Isaku Kageyama, a young, up-and-coming star Japanese taiko drummer who won the championship twice at national taiko contests. On the other hand, he is making a new departure in the traditional music world. One of his approaches is playing Japanese traditional folk songs with electric instruments. He plays the taiko, or Japanese

I experienced both more happy things and more hard things after starting this business. So my challenge enhanced my life.

2008-05-16

Interviewed by Isao Tokuhashi & Hisa Written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Eriko Yamaguchi Part2 Bag designer/CEO We are bringing you the interview with Eriko Yamaguchi, a young entrepreneur who manages her own bag brand called “Motherhouse”. In this part, we tell you about her present state and future vision. *You can go to the first part from here! *Eriko Yamaguchi (1981-) Born in Saitama, Japan. She endured fierce bullying as a grade school girl. She started practicing judo in junior high school and then joined a “men’s” judo club in high school. She placed 7th in the national competition of judo. Educated

I wouldn’t trust other people at all for the rest of my life if I gave it up.

2008-05-16

Interviewed by Isao Tokuhashi & Hisa Written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Eriko Yamaguchi Part1 Bag designer/CEO We bring you the interview with Eriko Yamaguchi, a young Japanese entrepreneur who manages her own bag brand called “Motherhouse“. Her bags are made in Bangladesh and made from jute, a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber. Jute bags are sold at other shops, too, in Japan but the features that differentiate her bags from others are cute, fancy and functional quality. Motherhouse declares on their brochures proudly: “We want to show to people that there are wonderful resources and possibilities in the places lumped together

I think I became more independent after I came to the US.

2007-10-14

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Hiroko Nagaoka Contract Administrator of the American capital bank (She’s been in US since ’91) Hiroko Nagaoka is a really calm woman and she speaks very softly. In that sense, she doesn’t look like a person who are living in the US. But she’s been in the US for a long time and she has much experience working at American companies. A woman who has virtues of both Japanese and American people tells us about the differences in the working environment in America and Japan. *Interview in Orange County, California

Interviews with Tokyo People Achieving Dreams