Tokyo Weekender - November 2017

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Society TOKYO’S LONGEST RUNNING SOCIAL COLUMN WITH BILL HERSEY These days, I’m not traveling as much as I used to, but it seems like our crazy old world with its terrorism, travel bans, rules, regulations and occasional flaky passengers make traveling more difficult and often more expensive than before. Hopefully this will all improve in the near future. As we all know, Tokyo is a really busy city and there’s so much to do. My recent discoveries and a few re-discoveries include Takeshita-Dori near Harajuku Station. This is such a fun, colorful, funky street with its fashion shops, restaurants, sweets shops, music studios, cat café, and the Harajuku Owl’s Forest – and it also has a currency exchange and information center for tourists. The street is well known, and very popular with Japanese and Korean pop stars, and many international visitors just looking for unusual fashion and souvenirs at reasonable prices. For more information, visit www.takeshita-street.com. Thanks to CNN news correspondent Christiane Amanpour, I learned about Vera Lynn, the English songbird whose music helped her country get through WWI with the many – and I do mean many – patriotic songs she sang. I wanted to buy one of her CDs, so I dropped by Tower Records and was really surprised at how busy they (and now King) Mohammed VI of Morocco TOKYO FLASHBACK: Bill with then Crown Prince were. They have a great selection of CDs, DVDs, showbiz-related books and even some fashion items. There’s also a nice café with a great ambiance. You might have to queue for a table there, though. Tower also has a pretty full schedule of press conferences – especially with visiting K-pop superstars. While there, I found two CDs by Vera as well as the original cast recordings of the top Broadway shows Hamilton and The Book of Mormon. BOUHLAL’S NATIONAL DAY RECEPTION AT THE PALACE HOTEL Talk about wonderful memories. Moroccan Ambassador Mohammed Bouhlal and his wife Fatima’s reception to celebrate the 18th anniversary of King H.M. Mohammed VI’s ascension to the throne. It really brought back wonderful memories of my 11 visits to their beautiful country. These took me from Tangiers in the north to Tan- Tan (home of the Blue Men in the south), and of course to mystical Marrakech. I’m sure some of you remember Masako Ohya, the colorful, eccentric, very rich and always fun wife of the President of Teijin. She spent considerable time in Morocco playing golf, and when the king – who was still crown prince at the time – was visiting Japan, Masako made sure I got to meet and spend some time with him and his entourage. This year’s National Day was held in the spacious Yamabuki room at the Palace Hotel. It was perfect for the occasion. It was good timing as Takashimaya was having a big Morocco promotion and let several of the musicians and craftsmen, whom they had flown in for the promotion, join the embassy event. It was really nice catching up with Japanese VIPs I hadn’t seen for a long time. These included Prime Minister Abe’s younger brother Nobuo Kishi (who was State Minister for Foreign Affairs at the time of the reception) and former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone’s son Hirofumi (who is now President of the Japan-Morocco Parliamentary League). I don’t like to think about how fast time flies, but I was so surprised to hear that his father is 99 years old now. Former Tokyoite Kathy Kriger, who used to be with the US embassy here, was at the party too. I had dinner with her in Prague, where she was later posted and made many VIP connections. She moved on to Casablanca where she was able to fulfill her dream and open Rick’s Café Casablanca, inspired by the legendary Warner Brothers film. I'm happy to say that she, with her strong personality, good connections and business knowhow, was able to open the super popular bar and restaurant in Casablanca in 2004, and it’s been a huge success. Read her book, Rick’s Café: Bringing the Film Legend to Life in Casablanca, and you’ll learn a lot about how people can make their dreams come true – but it’s seldom easy. Morocco’s a great country to visit. If you’re lucky enough to get there, be sure to drop by Rick’s Café. DJIBOUTI INDEPENDENCE DAY Djibouti Ambassador Ahmed Araita Ali, his lovely wife, their children and the embassy staff went all out to make the country’s 40th Independence Day celebration at the Okura a special evening. The program opened with a welcome speech by the host about his country’s strong and important diplomatic relationship with Japan and the many projects between the two countries. In 1992 Rachad Ahmed Saleh Farah – the Djibouti Ambassador at that time – invited me to spend eight days in his country, and in Weekender's June 19, 1992, issue I had a cover story on my many wonderful experiences there. My busy visit included a visit to the presidential palace and meeting President Aptidon. I had a car and a guide when I needed him and really enjoyed playing tourist in the small, beautiful country. Highlights of my visit included accidentally crashing a big wedding 50 | NOVEMBER 2017 | TOKYO WEEKENDER
BOUHLAL’S MOROCCAN NATIONAL DAY RECEPTION 1. Pres. of Japan-Morocco Parliamentary League Hirofumi Nakasone, Moroccan Amb. Mohammed Bouhlal, former State Minister of Foreign affairs Nobuo Kishi 2. Brazil Amb. André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, Colombian Amb. Gabriel Duque 3. Amb. Bouhlal, Kuwait Amb. Abdul- Rahman Al-Otaibi 4. Yemen Amb. Samir Khamis, his wife Jamila, Fatima Bouhlal, Jordan Amb. Demiya Haddad 5. Rwanda Amb. Venetia Sebudandi, Namibia Amb. Sophia-Namupa Nangombe 6. Helge Maruyama, his mother Lilo, Marrakech hotelier, Elizabeth Bouhlal 7. Mrs. Nakasone with Mary and Sho Katayama 3 1 4 2 5 6 7 8 9 11 10 12 13 DJIBOUTI NATIONAL DAY RECEPTION AT THE OKURA 8. Harada and Oumma, their parents, Djibouti Amb. Ahmed Araita Ali, his wife Yasmine 9. Tuna sashimi! 10. Amb. Ali’s daughter Emely, noted pianist Reiko Awaji 11. Yemen Amb. Samir Mohamed Khamis, Yuzo and Keiko Sugiyama 12. Ethiopian restaurant Queen Sheba owner Solomon Galtreh and kora musician Momadou 13. Amb. Ali’s daughter’s Temple University classmates TOKYO WEEKENDER | NOVEMBER 2017 | 51
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Tokyo Weekender - November 2017

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