Japan | My Eyes Tokyo

Sushi represents Japan. It doesn’t represent only Japanese culture, but Japan itself.

July 05 2018

Interviewed & Written by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Daniel Penso Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com Shihomi Homma & Ayumi Aalto Itamae/Sushi cooking instructors (*Continued from the featured article) The sushi class that we introduced to you in the previous page is very rare because there are just a few female itamae (板前, cook in a Japanese kitchen), even in Japan. We covered “Nadeshico Sushi”, a sushi restaurant in Akihabara, which only has female itamae, that opened around a decade ago, but we have never met women who work as itamae or chefs since then. But, recently we heard about a sushi

I will create a culture which encourages both profit generation and contribution to society.

December 16 2015

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com Kaoru Joho Entrepreneur One day we happened to find an interesting app on Facebook timeline. It enables you to give school meals to children in developing countries by booking seats at restaurants, bars, izakayas, etc. in Japan. The app is called “Table Cross”, which implies “Cross any boundary, connect with each other through food and make the world happier”. This app is not an interesting app, but it’s really helpful. You can make a difference in the world if you book seats at restaurants – maybe you’ve done it at

【Photo Report】Yukata de Guide Tour

August 15 2015

Reported by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com One day we heard about an event, in which many foreigners in yukata would participate in, from Noemi Inoue, a woman from Bolivia who’s dedicated herself to attracting foreign tourists to Sumida City. Actually, there are many landmarks such as Tokyo Skytree, Ryogoku Kokugikan (National Sumo Stadium) and Edo-Tokyo Museum that must be quite attractive to foreigners in the city. We really got interested in the event and joined it on August 1, 2015. The event, which celebrates its 10th anniversary, was organized by Visit Sumida Tourism Office, Sumidagawa Edo Cultural Sightseeing Promotion

Rakugo might prevent conflicts. I’ll try to achieve peace through it.

January 29 2015

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com Kimie Oshima Professor/English-Rakugo Performer Have you heard of the word “Rakugo”? It’s a form of Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone storyteller sits on stage, using only a paper fan and a small cloth as props, and does not stand up from the sitting position. Actually My Eyes Tokyo has interviewed some foreign rakugo performers so far such as Diane Orrett from UK and Mizirakli Halit from Turkey. Also we met Johan Nilsson Björk, a rakugo performer from Sweden. They learned rakugo after coming to Japan, fell in love with the

I always want to know something that I don’t know. I couldn’t have come this far without curiosity.

October 01 2013

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com Tomoko Komatsuzaki PR Producer She looks lily, but actually she is very energetic and passionate. Her target is mainly Asia and has introduced 1000 million people to services and products from Japan. And she challenged a big international project – selling Japanese “Night views” to Hong Kong. We met her at an event which was held by “GTIC” (Global Techno Innovation Cafe) in the summer of 2012. GTIC is an entrepreneurial group led by Tomo Akiyama, a startup accelerator, and she joined his meetup as a presenter. We felt empathy

There is no person who is unworthy. All humans are valuable.

November 02 2012

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com Ruiko Monda Representative of AIDS Orphan Support NGO Do you know about “AIDS orphan“? We had little idea of that, but we learned that its definition is “a child under 18 who lost his/her parent(s) to AIDS”. Today we introduce you to Ruiko Monda, a woman like a caring sister for them. According to her organization called “AIDS Orphan Support NGO PLAS (Positive Living through AIDS orphan Support)”, many AIDS orphans are adopted by their grandparents. But they cannot work due to old age, so some of them are forced to

No one will ever be able to destroy the relationship between us and people in China.

November 01 2012

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com GYPSY QUEEN Musical group When we heard that they call themselves “Asian band”, we wondered why they didn’t say they are a Japanese band. But they said with a laugh. “Japan is part of Asia, isn’t it?” Absolutely! But it’s not the only reason for it. They’ve performed in 10 countries so far, such as China, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei, Malaysia and Japan. Such an “Asiatrotting” band has tons of stories but we were limited in time so they picked the stories of their first tour in China.

I want to make Japan an entrepreneurs’ country.

October 02 2012

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com Kentaro Sakakibara Incubator “We will create a second Google or second Facebook!” If you heard that, what would you think? Some of you might think, “No, it’s impossible”. But today we introduces a man who makes it his mission to realize such a thing. Kentaro Sakakibara, President of Samurai Incubate Inc. We got to know about him in April, 2012. We found him in a magazine which featured Japanese entrepreneurs who were aiming for a global expansion and their supporters such as incubators and investors. The word “Samurai” was burned

Who makes you grow bigger or ceases growing yourself? That’s you.

October 01 2012

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com Ayaka Sugiyama “vivi” Executive Director of Kawakami Sangyo The theme of today’s interview is kind of extreme; A challenge to Marissa Mayer. Marissa Mayer, a woman who became CEO of Yahoo! at the age of just 37. She is awesome and no one disputes that. But there are many young female corporate managers in Japan as well. Ayaka Sugiyama is one of them, she is an executive director of Kawakami Sangyo Co.Ltd, a manufacturer of bubble wrap which is known by its nickname “Putiputi” in Japan. However there are some

Startups that don’t make innovation happen aren’t worthy of existence.

August 21 2012

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com Hiroaki Taira Entrepreneur Today we features a Japanese IT entrepreneur who used to live in the Silicon Valley in his youth. Hiroaki Taira moved around Japan with his family because his father, a semi-conductor engineer, was transferred to some branches. Then his family went to Silicon Valley, but he left the ventures’ playground long before he started business. Eventually he looked at Thailand, which is still a “developing” country in the IT field. He gambled on its possibility and aimed at a place which has not been reclaimed yet, not

Interviews with Tokyo People Achieving Dreams