Working As a Guide Interpreter

Last month, I received a letter confirming that I passed the test to be a government licensed guide interpreter.  It’s a qualification that enables you to guide foreign tourists with a monetary reward.  I took this exam just for a challenge, but I never imagined working as a guide interpreter up to now. 

In 2015, the total number of tourists visiting Japan was 19,730,000.  It was a 47.1% increase from the previous year.  Tourism is one of the highest growing industries in Japan and the government is aiming to increase it.  It’s surprising to know that the government is setting the goal of gaining 30,000,000 tourists by 2030. 

It must be interesting to be involved in the tourism industry.  However, what should I do with this license that is so hard to come by?  What can I do for people coming to Japan?  I have been thinking about it since I passed the exam.

As for me, I’m a lazy traveler.  I like to sip drinks while viewing nice scenery for as long as I want rather than to visit many places.  Besides, I’d like to find something that is not listed in guidebooks.  A package tour or a group tour is convenient, especially for the first time or the first day in a country.  But I don’t feel up to joining it because the schedule is always filled with events and we need to be punctual.

I haven’t come up with any plans yet but at least I can say I will target people like me, lazy adventurers.  I hope I can help foreign visitors someday in the near future.

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The Future of Japanese Traditional Crafts.

photo: colocal.jp  Johoji-urushi

The other day, I joined a talk session on Japanese traditional crafts at Midtown in Roppongi.  Hidetoshi Nakata, a former football player and Jun Nakagawa, CEO of Nakagawa Masashiti shoten in Nara pref. talked about their endeavors to promote Japanese traditional crafts.  It was very interesting and thought provoking for me.

Nakata, known as a “traveler,” said he had just finished his trip visiting artisans, sake breweries and other local traditional craft centers in all 47 prefectural regions in Japan.  I have been wondering why a former world-class football player got interested in Japanese crafts.  I couldn't wrap my head around it.  However, my uneasy feelings finally cleared up when I heard his explanation. 

Nakata said that he realized he didn’t know anything about Japan at all when he was asked about Japan, as he worked outside of the country.  All the more reason, he wanted to know every inch of Japan and started visiting manufacturing people after he quite playing football.  I think it’s his honest feelings and I also sometimes feel the same way.  It’s a shame we really don’t know about our country.

Nakagawa is the 13^th generation of a traditional company with 300 years of history.  Born in a family of linen fabric makers, he considered the future of Japanese crafts, which seemed to be disappearing due to the lack of successors and the change of people’s lifestyles.  Now, he has been enthusiastic about revitalizing traditional crafts.  And his company is growing enough to have a flag shop in Aoyoma, Tokyo. 

The chemistry of these two people was very interesting.  Though their standpoints are different, there are some similarities between them.  What impressed me most is their claim that Japanese traditional products wouldn’t be sold overseas unless customers understand the cultural background, or how the products have been used in traditionally in Japanese. 

For example, Japanese wooden products and urushi lacquer products are beautiful but it’s a bit difficult to maintain their good conditions if people leave them in low ambient humidity, as in Europe. 

If we want to expand the traditional crafts market worldwide, we should export the history of the products as well so that the prospective consumers would keep using them as long as possible.  Otherwise, Japanese crafts would be recognized just a souvenirs. 

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Raf Simons's days in Christian Dior.

I was very surprised to know that Raf Simons, the artistic director of Christian Dior, left the most prestigious fashion house after his three and a half years contribution.

 “Dior and I,” is a fashion documentary film that depicts Raf’s eight weeks, from day one when he started working for Dior till his debut haute couture collection of fall-winter 2012.  Initially, I thought it’s just a behind the scene fashion movie, but it was much more than I expected.  On the contrary, it became one of my favorite movies of the year 2015.

Raf had been a director of Jil Snder, a Milan fashion brand, which is characterized as sharp with modern line and form.  As for Dior, it’s the most elegant and feminine brand.  People were very curious how Raf, a minimalist, would meet the high demands and create his own Dior style when he took the position as a director of Dior.

A haute couture collection usually takes six to eight months to prepare, but Raf was given only eight weeks.  What is worse, he had never designed haute couture before.  The movie reveals all the process of making the collection including some conflict with staff members and Raf’s nervousness as well.

What impressed me most is Raf’s attitude.  He is calm, shy and restricted rather than arrogant and self-indulgent, which people in the fashion industry are likely to be.  He is intensely focused and never loses control until the end.  He knows exactly what is required, that is, a mixture of Raf’s modern minimalism and Dior’s legacy.  It’s easy to say, but when I saw his final output, I knew he did it in a perfect way. 

Nowadays, almost everything seems to be determined by marketing.  People are likely to rely on the analyzed data and figures because they don’t want take any risks.  As for Christian Dior, Raf’s inspiration and creativity itself was the marketing that showed the big brand the way to go. 

Under the incredible pressure of high expectations, he must have carried a heavy load on his shoulder.  Raf explained the reason why he left Dior as “personal” only.  Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing his next challenge after leaving Dior.

The trailer of "Dior and I"

You can see the details of Raf Simons's first show 

that was introduced in the "Dior and I."  

Christian Dior Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture 

2012/13 AW held on July 2^nd  25 min

Raf Simons’s last collection for Jil Sander 2012/13 AW.  

It was held just before he moved to Christian Dior.  

It’s mesmerizing.  

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Taking a stroll around “Kachikura,” a hot creative place.

Have you ever heard ‘kachikura’?  It’s the name of a district located eastern part of Tokyo, from Okachimachi to Kuramae in Taito ward. 

（Asakusa is also in Taito ward and adjacent to this area）

The area used to be a town, where handicraft artisans who succeeded to the traditional craftsmanship gathered.  There are still many wholesalers and shops specializing in fashion items, such as hats, wallets, bags, jewelry and accessories and we feel remains of center of manufacturing here, although it has lost a bit of its past glory.

Recently, this area has been spotlighted again as a new manufacturing place and has attracted young creators.  The history of the craftsmanship might have inspired young talented people and encouraged them to invent something new.  They started their own brands, shops, cafes and galleries and it seems to boost the manufacturing movement here in Kachikura more.

The other day, I went for a stroll about the town.  Hanging out the area, I found many shops and nice fashion items that are based on the traditional craftsmanship. 

My original notebook.  I choose three kinds of paper with different touch and quality, 
bank paper, Manila paper and art paper.  
Whenever I open the notebook, I get so excited and I can’t help writing something.

The vicinity of Kuramae station, I visited Koncent (variety store), Maito (dyeing and weaving), Camera (leather goods and café) and Kakimori (stationary).  Please take a look at my new notebook with flower print.  It’s quite nice and lovely, isn’t it?  I made it at Kakimori that specializes in original notebooks and ink.  They have a variety of sheets of paper and parts of notebook and all you have to do is just choose your favorite materials.  For a lover of paper like me, Kakimori is a must.

When you head for Okachimachi from Kuramae, you’ll find an old building in the back street.  It’s Taito Designers Village.  The building once housed an elementary school has now become incubator offices for young entrepreneurs.  Taito local government started this project in 2004 to assist young designers in launching their businesses. 

Taito Designers Village

On the face of it, the area seems to be a business district but, 
once you are bit away from the main street, 
you’ll find some old Japanese houses like this. 

When you get to Okachimachi station, you’ll come across a unique facility called 2k540.  It utilizes beneath the elevated JR rail line and develops an artisan’s street.  Combining studio and shop, it shows us not only products but also artisan’s craftsmanship. 

2k540 is located between Okachimachi and Akihabara 
and its name means 2 km and 540m away from a starting point 
at Tokyo station. Oh,yes? 

I joined a workshop for gold gilding and made post cards at Nihon Department.  The artist (instructor) walked me through making cards and I made wonderful ones even if it was my first experience.  It was really wonderful time for me.

I made these cards. I think I can’t use them because they are too beautiful. 
Maybe, I will display them on the wall.

                   

Kachikura is very fun to visit and it’s more than I expected. 

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Joining A Handicraft Market

I’m going to take part in a local handicraft market, which is held at a flower shop in my neighborhood.  I’m very excited about joining it because it would be a good opportunity for me to socialize local people and show them what I made.

I’ve been making accessoriessince last winter for a change.  Usually, they are for me, for my family members and for my friends.  However, when I’m stressed out, I don’t know why but I’m likely to make them too much without considering to whom I give them.  Consequently, now I have tons of bracelets, rings, necklaces and what not.

I’m quite interested to know what kind of impressions do they have about my handmade accessories.  I would be very nice if some people are pleased with them.  But, even if they don’t like them, at least, I can get their feedbacks and I will be able to make consumers’-needs-based items next time.

The market, we call it “marche” in French though, is not a big scale event.  The participants of the marche is all told just ten individuals and groups.  Because of the small scale, the air of the event is very friendly and laid back.  The members are sewing buffs, embroideries geeks and such and we can buy their delicate and elaborate pieces with incredibly lower prices.  That’s the beauty of visiting craft markets.

A friend of mine and I volunteered to make brochures of the market and we all but finished posting them.  I’m really looking forward to it.

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Natsuko Kuroda, the oldest Akutagawa prize winner

Natsuko Kuroda, 75 year old woman, won the 148^th Akutagawa prize on 16th of January.  I was surprised to hear the news because the Akutagawa prize is for promising newcomer writers in literature.  Seventy five year old is the oldest in the 80-year-history of the award.

Kuroda is more than just an old lady.  She seems to be beyond her age.  To be exact, she is beyond our common notion of what old women should be.  She is still youthful.  Besides, there is something very different about her. 

She started creating stories at the tender age of 5.  Since then she has been writing novels just because she likes doing it.  It didn’t matter to her at all whether her novels won a prize of not.  She was just in pursuit of whatever she wanted to express and she wasn’t even interested in the awards wining games.

She answered some questions after wining the prize.

“When I turned 70s, I started thinking that it would be very nice if I had readers who enjoy my novels.  That’s why I decided to apply for the prize again for the first time in 40 years.”  She added. ”Thank you for finding my work while I’m alive.”

Her prize-wining novel, “Ab Sango” is very unique and challenging in its writing style.  It depicts without using individual names or pronouns the memories of a child.  And it adapts horizontal writing instead of vertical as Japanese is usually written. 

However, it’s not just play on words, rather she is a true professional in the Japanese language.  She used to be a proofreader for a magazine, Mari Clare Japon, which I sometimes wrote fashion articles as a freelance writer.  It’s so fun to imagine her checking and correcting what I wrote.

In Japan, we are heading toward the aging society and now companies and marketers are starting to focus on so-called “senior” people, who are forming a big promising market.  But we should know that they are not stereotyped senior people, but rather, they might be a new type of old people like Kuroda.  Old people are changing here.

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Would Lao textiles become a savior for the kimono industry?

The other day, NHK broadcast a documentary film titled “Lao textiles for the Japanese kimono” in the news show “World Network.” It was a well-edited story that showed the whole process how people blaze a trail for Lao silk textiles in Japan.

I’m very happy to know that Japanese people have an opportunity to get to know wonderful Lao silk textiles. It seems that the effort made by people who were involved in the Kimono Project, a Japanese governmental organization set up, to boost exporting Lao textiles into Japan is paying off.

The kimono industry is like endangered spices. Nowadays, young women seldom wear a kimono and the number of manufactures is decreasing as well. Both demand and supply have been shrinking. In this critical situation, traditional Lao textiles are highlighted as a savior for Japan.

The characteristics of Lao textiles are delicate and elaborated patterns 100% handmade. The quality is very high and it would surely satisfy Japanese consumers’ demand. And, needless to say, their lower labor prices are attractive, too.

A kimono fan said; “The patterns of Lao textiles look exotic and I think it’s interesting to coordinate them with what I already have.” The textiles form Laos have already started attracting people. I hope that Lao textiles and the Japanese kimono industry have a happy win-win relationship.

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Bhutan and GNH

A friend of mine has just come back from his trip to Bhutan. I had an opportunity to see his slide show.

He entered Bhutan via the eastern part of India. Some photos showed a dramatic change of the atmosphere just after passing through the immigration gate. The roads on the Bhutan side are kept up neatly and the red roves of each house look beautifuly in the landscape. It’s like from chaos to harmony.

As you know, Bhutan is famous for GNH, Gross National Happiness. GNH is criteria that Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the 4^th king of Bhutan, advocated as a counter concept against GNP, the materialistic world’s measurement. I think that the 4^th king is a wonderful leader and a good branding planner as well.

I don’t know whether Bhutan people are the happiest in the world or not. Actually, a survey done by University of Leicester in 2006 told that the number 1 nation in the world was Denmark, (Bhutan was No.8.) though the result of the research doesn’t matter at all.

The important thing is that the leader showed the direction where the nation should go into both domestically and internationally with a few words. In addition, the words ended up uplifting people’s mind and giving them confidence and motivation to build the happiest country as the slogan said.

Do you remember a terrible slogan that a prime minister of one country said; “society of the least unhappiness”? I felt depressed whenever I heard it. A slogan should have some power to drive people and it should be made up of some positive words.

I think that Japan also needs some good words that light up the way we are going. We can’t work happily with “Ganbaro Nippon” or “We’ll get through this together” anymore.

photos: Tourism Council of Bhutan

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Is Japan heading for space?

There is no doubt that the TV industry is declining.

Now, people have a lot of other options to spend their spare time on. Besides, as long as information is concerned, it’s not necessary for people to depend only on TV anymore because they can get any kinds of information through the Internet and SNS.

Actually, most TV shows are not worth watching. I’m getting bored with them because they have been broadcasting just about the same contents in the same time zone. Even the news shows pick up the same topic with a similar priority.

Maybe it’s the curse of ratings and marketing.

One thing’s for sure. The research doesn’t tell what people want to see. It only tells what people are familiar with.

The media people are also concerned about their future and some people have started trying out a new type show to demonstrate what they really want us to see. In that sense, I think “宇宙テレビ” or Space News (TV Tokyo, a Tokyo based key station) is a good start.

The idea comes from one of staff members who is a space fanatic. It features only space news, from a new discovery from the edge of space science to breathtaking views from the space station. The show is quite unique and it inspires us with infinite possibilities.

Speaking of space, a young J-pop idol unit “Momoiro Clover Z” has released a new single titled猛烈宇宙交響曲・第７楽章『無限の愛』, Fierce Space Symphony, 7^th Movement, “Endless Love.” Probably, “space” is coming up in Japan.

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