INTERVIEWS

A lot of luck led me to Japan. Thanks to the help of many people, I was able to survive in Japan as a refugee. I am grateful to all the people I’ve met.

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Jennifer A. Hoff info@myeyestokyo.com   Yoshihiro Paul Kitagawa Former Refugee and Company Owner My Eyes Tokyo has interviewed many people who have come to Japan from various countries. Some of them are refugees, and others are supporters of refugees. We would like to introduce to you Yoshihiro Kitagawa, who arrived in Japan as a refugee, and later became the president of a company. Aw Wanping, an entrepreneur from Singapore, whom we interviewed in the spring of this year (2023), was who told us about Kitagawa. She said, “I have a business partner who

MET Column

Happy Vietnamese National Day!

Vietnamese women wearing traditional costume Áo dài. *Photo from Wikipedia September 2 is National Day, celebrates the independence of Vietnam from Japan and France in 1945. The Japanese occupied Vietnam during World War II but allowed the French to remain and exert some influence. At the war’s end in August 1945, a power vacuum was created in Vietnam. Capitalizing on this, the Việt Minh launched the “August Revolution” across the country to seize government offices. Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated on August 25, 1945, ending the Nguyễn Dynasty. On September 2, 1945, at Ba Đình Square, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, leader

INTERVIEWS

Do you get bored of cold weather? – Tell me, Japanese people! Vol.18

Produced by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Katy Phillips Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   SHIBUYA HOTEL EN *Photo provided by SHIBUYA HOTEL EN The hotel is a 7-minute walk from Shibuya station and its JR, Tokyu, Keio, and Tokyo Metro lines. From the outside, it looks very western, but inside each floor is decorated to showcase both traditional and modern Japan. Many visitors from around the world have chosen this hotel for their travels around Tokyo. *See this page for more details. *Photos provided by SHIBUYA HOTEL EN 日本語   Man from UK I’m from Cardiff in Wales. This is my first

Features

Ceremony of the 10th Japan International MANGA Award

Reported by Isao Tokuhashi Photos by Yutaka Toyama Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   The season of “Nobel Prize of manga” also came this year. The Japan International MANGA Award was set up in 2007, a desire of Mr. Taro Aso, the Foreign Minister then. Mr. Aso thought, “We want to give a ‘Nobel Prize for Manga’ as people from its birthplace to the young standard-bearers of Manga abroad”. In 2017, they marked the 10th anniversary of the award. 296 works were submitted from 55 countries/regions – the largest number ever. Moreover, works were exhibited from Estonia, Kuwait, Democratic Republic of Congo,

Features

Ceremony of the 9th International MANGA Award

Reported by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com Do you know the “Nobel Prize for Manga”? The International MANGA Award was set up in 2007 with a desire of Mr. Taro Aso, then Foreign Minister. Mr. Aso thought, “We want to give the ‘Nobel Prize for Manga’ as people from its birthplace to the young standard-bearers of Manga abroad” In 2016, they marked the 9th anniversary of the award. 259 works were submitted from 46 countries. The ceremony, which was held at Iikura Guest House on February 26, honored 14 best works, 3 nominees awarded the Silver Award and 1 nominee

INTERVIEWS

I feel my activities connect Vietnam and Japan so I’m really happy now.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Hai Trieu (Vietnam) Singer (He’s been in Japan since 2001) We met him for the first time at the event called “Love Asia Vol.18” which was held in Shibuya in October 2012. Its slogan is “Unify Asian nations through music” and Hai sang songs with his band. He looked a little bit small in stature from a distance, but we were really amazed with the incredible strength of his voice and his commanding performance. After his show, we were called by Ayaka Sugiyama, MC/organizer of the event who is the