Tokyo Weekender - February 2017

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People, Parties, Places TOKYO’S LONGEST RUNNING SOCIETY PAGE WITH BILL HERSEY Bill Hersey and the age-defying Mick Jagger, circa 1988 In addition to having a lot of friends from all over the world visiting Tokyo over the Christmas-New Year's holidays, I met a lot of interesting people for the first time. This added up to spending a lot of time meeting and talking with people from all walks of life in a half a dozen or so of the city’s many fine restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Our groups were always very international and we talked about everything from terrorism to (ugh!) Trump. One conversation with a group of young Italian businessmen working here regarding the perils of Roppongi really surprised me. One of them told me he and a few friends were lured to a well-known Roppongi club by a couple of touts who work the streets around the Roi Building. They didn’t really like the club’s ambiance, so they decided to have one drink and move on. But somehow someone had spiked their drinks and two of them woke up in a small dark street several hours later. One was missing his watch and wallet and the other just his wallet. They reported this and spent considerable time filling out a police report. It’s been a couple of weeks and they haven’t gotten anything back yet. I respect the police here, but it’s not easy. The Roppongi scumbags who are into spiking drinks, pickpocketing, and the like really know what they’re doing. I know Tokyo’s one of the safest cities in the world, but it seems like no matter where you travel nowadays, you should be careful. I'd also like to warn you about using drugs here. Most, including marijuana, are illegal and penalties are tough. I’m sure you can find people selling drugs, but don’t take a chance. No one needs that kind of trouble here. Joined friends from the Big Apple at a first-class holiday lunch at the Grand Hyatt’s Oak Door. My fish and chips were excellent and not all that expensive. My four friends who arrived a little late were loaded down with Christmas décor bags from a half a dozen Roppongi Hills bags and boxes. “Gifts for friends back home,” they told me, adding “Tokyo is really a marketing dream.” I suppose when you consider that about 1% of Japan’s 127 million people are big shoppers, this is true. If you visit the Shibuya and Roppongi Don Quixotes, they’re almost always super busy with Chinese and Southeast Asian tourists with big bags, boxes and even suitcases full of all kinds of things they bought to take back home. Even though there are only a small number of Christians in Japan, thanks to marketing and promotions Tokyo was beautifully decorated for holidays and sales of gifts were up. An increase in tourism has helped. Let’s hope it keeps getting better all the time. In closing this part of the column, my apologies to our Chinese friends for this late, but truly sincere congratulations on their New Year which was on January 28. ALGERIAN NATIONAL DAY RECEPTIONS Algerian Ambassador Mohammed Bencherif and his wife Amira hosted their National Day Reception in their beautiful Arabic designed Embassy/Residence in Minato-ku. Guests were a wall-to-wall 42 | FEBRUARY 2017 | TOKYO WEEKENDER
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHIGA AT TSUKIJI JISAKU 1. Brazilian car racer J.P. Oliveira and his wife Haruka 2. Shiga’s mom Reiko, his son Christophe, the birthday guy Tsukasa Shiga, his wife Anna, their daughter Anastasia, and Anastasia’s friends Diria and Roman 3. Top Apple executive Kaoru Washitaki, his wife Hinatsu 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 ALGERIAN 62ND NATIONAL DAY 4. The hosting couple, Algerian Ambassador Mohamed Bencherif, his wife Amira 5. Gospel singer Alex Easley, photographer Benjamin Lee 6. Toshio and Fumiko Motoya, the couple behind all the APA Hotels you see everywhere 7. Egyptian Ambassador Ismail Khairat, Kuwait Ambassador Abdul-Rahman Al-Otaibi 8. Algerian Ambassador Bencherif, German Ambassador Hans Carl Freiherr Von Werthern 9. Bill and Japan Football Association head coach Vahid Halilhodzic 10. Gaimusho’s Deputy Director General Middle East and Africa Affairs Bureau, Katsuhiko Takahashi, his wife Mami, and Amira Bencherif TOKYO WEEKENDER | FEBRUARY 2017 | 43
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Tokyo Weekender - February 2017

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