Konnichiwa everybody,
Last month I had the opportunity to work for Tsubasa no Okoku (翼の王国), the inflight magazine for the Japanese airline company All Nippon Airways (ANA). I coordinated their editorial team’s trip in San Francisco and also interpreted all their interviews for them. They visited for two special issues about the city. It was very exciting to work with a Japanese team in the US, and also refreshing to rediscover San Francisco with new eyes. The issues will be out in the beginning of 2020, so I’ll tell you more about it when they are published.
★ Scroll down for my Bay Area events calendar!
NEW RESTAURANTS／新レストラン
I’m always thrilled when a new Japanese or Japanese-inspired restaurant opens in the Bay Area. Two cool places launched recently, and of course I was looking forward to trying them.
Family, a new Japanese-inspired café/restaurant that opened in October in North Beach, serves katsu sandwiches, curry rice, vegetarian plates, various delicious matcha, and more. The chef is Japanese, too. Not only is their homestyle food good, but their interior is so pretty! The co-owner Jessica designed the space herself with a stylish yet cozy look. Their comfort food makes this place very delightful. Definitely a must go!
https://www.instagram.com/familycafe_northbeach
Okawari Café is located in SoMa. During the day, they serve a delicious lunch menu, including katsu sandwiches, which seems to be a trend right now in the Bay (along with matcha). At night, they transition to a wine and sake bar. I personally loved their onsen tamago bowl with tonkatsu, mentaiko, furikake, and tsukemono. It’s a combination that’s unusual in Japanese food, which I enjoyed. You should try it too!
YOUTUBER／ユーチューバー
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The future is now and one of the most popular occupations amongst Japanese youth is to become a famous YouTuber. Kemio, a half Japanese and Italian-Iranian 24 year old, has become one of Japan’s rising influencers with more than 1.5 million channel subscribers. This year his career took off expanding into the fashion and entertainment world. He has become a fashion icon, being invited to many shows including Dior, collaborating with fashion magazines and brands, and has being recently awarded “Man of the Year” by the GQ Japan magazine in November. His book which was published this April, has sold an impressive 150,000 copies, over 10 times the average number of successful books in Japan. I myself have purchased a copy!
He started gaining popularity through his YouTube channel, when he moved to the US to learn English few years ago. In his videos, he talks (in Japanese) about his everyday life and adventures in America with an honest humor and wit that I absolutely love. If you appreciate the wonderful charm and complexity the Japanese language can hold, learning new expressions and funny words, I highly recommend checking out his videos.
You can find his YouTube channel here and his Instagram account here.
TOKYO OLYMPICS／東京五輪
In July 2020, Tokyo will host the next summer Olympic games. Recently, the International Olympic Committee announced that they would switch the marathon’s location to Sapporo (札幌), which is about 830km (560 miles) north of Tokyo. After seeing many participants collapse at a summer marathon in Qatar, the IOC became concerned about the effects of Japan’s hot and humid summer weather on the Olympic athletes. Although most people agree in prioritizing the health of the athletes, some people—especially Tokyo’s governor Koike Yuriko (小池百合子)—were unhappy to learn of the decision with less than a year before the event, without any consultation. Tokyo has invested a lot of money in paving roads with a special coating to shield runners from the heat, so this was another reason for her dissatisfaction. That said, the IOC has all the rights for the decision, so the governor eventually accepted it reluctantly. Meanwhile, if you do want to see a marathon in Tokyo, you can go the Tokyo Marathon next March 1st. One of my students is going to participate—how exciting!
DRUG SCANDAL ／ 薬物スキャンダル
In November, Sawajiri Erika (沢尻エリカ), a high profile actress, was arrested for alleged drug possession. She has been detained and interrogated for almost two weeks now. Although her drug test results came back negative, she told the police that the drugs found at her place belonged to her and that she has been taking all kind of drugs for the last ten years.
In Japan, drug use is taken very seriously. When an artist is arrested, their work is usually erased from the public eye. For example, music CDs are often recalled from shops. Scenes with the offending actor are cut from movies or TV shows as much as possible. That’s what happened to Pieru Taki (ピエール瀧), a famous musician and actor. That’s how taboo it is in Japan and why people were shocked to discover that she had been using drugs for most of her career. Sawajiri had just finished shooting a year-long historical TV drama, which was scheduled to air on NHK next January—it would have been some of the most prestigious work of her career. After the news broke out, NHK decided to reshoot the entire show with a different actress. Now the question is: will Sawajiri be able to make a comeback? I know that in the US or even in France, the answer would likely be “yes.” However in Japan, it is unlikely to be so. Even though many argue that she should be able to, most people still do not want to give her a second chance, to “avoid giving the impression to youth that taking drugs is ok.” A famous commentator sparked debate when he said that Sawajiri should get “ippatsu auto” (一発アウト), which means “game over after one mistake.” However, attitudes like this may be why there’s so few drug problems in Japan compared to the US or Europe. And you, what do you think?
That’s all for today—thank you for reading. Looking forward to seeing you soon at our next lesson!
最後まで読んでいただき、どうもありがとうございます。皆さまにまたお会いできるのを楽しみにしています。よろしくお願いいたします！
★MY PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER CAN BE SEEN HERE
★SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA CALENDAR
■ Dec 4 / Screening of the anime “My Neighbor Totoro” in Oakland
■ ~ Dec 8 / Exhibition “Noguchi and Hasegawa in Postwar Japan” in SF
■ Dec 8 ~ Jan 11 / Origami Christmas tree in SF
■ Dec 20 – 22 / Miyazaki’s animated films screening in SF
■ Dec 1 – 31 / Exhibition “Exquisite Art Under Adverse Conditions: From The Japanese American Incarceration Camps” in San Jose
■ Dec 31 / Japanese New Year’s Ceremony in SF
■ ~ Jan 4 2020 / Exhibition by Tachibana Seiko in SF
■ Jan 11 2020 / Mochi pounding event in SF
■~ Mid Feb 2020 / Exhibition “The Go For Broke Spirit” in San Jose
■~ June 2020 / EXCLUSION: The Presidio’s Role in World War II Japanese American Incarceration