5:30pm – 8:30pm
From the spectacular rooftop of Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills, our World of Hyatt partner hotel, the opening event was a celebration of seasonal cuisine, local artists, craftsmen and musicians. We heard from Shinichiro Ogata, the founder of leading Japanese design firm Simplicity, and take part in a sake tasting led by renowned expert John Gauntner.
9am – 10:30am
Opening Speaker Session
Award winning journalist, author and foreign affairs expert Yoichi Funabashi opened our program with an insightful overview on the current state of Japan in relation to the economics, politics and societal views. Funabashi-san spoke to attendees on the grounds of International House, a non-profit organization supported by the Rockefeller Foundation created to promote cultural exchange and intellectual cooperation between Japan and other countries.
11am – 1pm
Speaker Session and Lunch
The nuclear disaster of Fukushima, triggered by the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011, devastated an entire region. We heard from Azby Brown, director of Safecast, a globally revered citizen science project, on how the communities affected have recovered, what challenges still remain, and how open data technology has contributed to that recovery.
1pm – 4pm
Breakout Session I, various locations
Tokyo culture is best experienced in small groups. These breakouts offered more intimate, behind the scenes encounters with local experts.
4pm – 6:30pm
Free Time
6:30pm – 10pm
Dine Out with the locals
In small groups, we experienced Tokyo’s lively streets in the company of a trusted local resident. With a new friend to help guests navigate, we visited some of their favorite spots, like hole-in-the-wall izakayas and hard-to-find, one of a kind restaurants. We discovered the back streets of Tokyo’s many vibrant neighborhoods, from Nakameguro to Shimo-kitazawa and beyond.
9:45am – 12pm
Japanese tea ceremony
Guests experienced the exquisite tradition of a Japanese tea ceremony in a private and idyllic setting at the renowned Nezu Museum. Attendees gained rare access to the museum’s traditional teahouse, set among the winding, leafy paths of beautifully tranquil Japanese gardens.
12:30pm – 2:30pm
Speaker Session and Lunch
The word design could be a synonym for Japan. Kazuko Koike, one of the country’s leading cultural figures and most respected experts in contemporary creative life, led a fascinating discussion about the role of simplicity and usefulness in Japanese design culture and in daily life.
3pm – 6:30pm
Free Time
7pm – 10pm
Shinto ceremony and Dinner
At the historic Konno Hachiman-gu shrine in Shibuya, we learned about Shinto, Japan’s indigenous religion and experienced an ancient ritual and blessing by a resident Shinto priest.
9am – 11:30am
Breakout Sessions II, various locations
11:30am – 1:45pm
Lunch and Free Time
2:30pm – 4pm
Speaker Session
Today, we took a deeper dive into the fascinating and fanciful world of Japanese pop culture phenomena through conversation with Mami Kataoka, chief curator of the contemporary Mori Art Museum, and Matt Alt, pop culture expert. From manga to anime and everything in between, we explored the trajectory of Japan’s biggest, and quirkiest, export.
4:30pm – 8pm
Farewell Cocktail and Dinner
A visit to Tokyo wouldn’t be complete without visiting the elegant and iconic Park Hyatt hotel. AFAR guests had private access to its renowned New York Bar and Grill for sunset cocktails followed by a very special dinner high above the magical, neon city lights.
8:30pm – 11pm
The Final Final
Let’s not say goodbye just yet. After dinner, we carried on with an after party at a local establishment where the sake continued to flow, as we toasted our final night together.
Kampai!
Azby Brown has lived in Japan since 1985 and is a leading authority on Japanese architecture, design, and environmentalism. His groundbreaking writings on traditional Japanese carpentry, compact housing, and traditional sustainable practices of Japan are recognized as having brought these fields to the awareness of Western designers and the general public. Since 2011 he has been a core member of Safecast, a highly successful global volunteer-based organization formed in close collaboration with the MIT Media Lab, devoted to developing new technology platforms for crowdsourced environmental monitoring which promote on open-source and open data principles.
Mami Kataoka has been chief curator of Mori Art Museum in Tokyo since 2003 where she has curated a number of exhibitions. Prior to this position, Kataoka was Chief Curator at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery and researcher at the NLI Research Institute on cultural policies and urban development projects. She was also International curator at the Hayward Gallery in London from 2007 to 2009. She has served as a professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design Graduate School of Art and Design Studies since 2016. Kataoka has now been appointed as artistic director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney in 2018.
Writer, translator, and longtime Tokyo resident Matt Alt is the co-founder of AltJapan Co., Ltd., a localization firm that produces the English versions of Japanese video games, comic books, and other entertainment for Japan’s top media companies. He is the co-host of the popular NHK World TV show Japanology Plus, the co-author of the bestselling Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide, and a regular contributor to publications including Slate Magazine, Newsweek Japan, the Japan Times, and the New Yorker.
Born, raised and educated in America, Elizabeth Andoh has made Japan her home for more than half a century. A leading English-language authority on Japanese food culture, Ms. Andoh’s formal culinary training was taken at the Yanagihara School of Classical Japanese Cuisine (Tokyo). She directs A Taste of Culture, a Tokyo-based culinary arts program. Author of award-winning Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen (Ten Speed Press, 2005), Ms. Andoh. teaches Japanese Classics on the CRAFTSY platform, an online culinary classroom.
Kyoko Utsumi Mimura is an independent scholar on Japanese traditional popular crafts and arts (mingei). She was the long-time International Programs Director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum and currently lectures at Waseda University. Kyoko is also producer and director of Friendship Bridge Classical Music and Arts Society, a non-profit organization that produces educational programs, lectures and exhibitions on Japanese art and culture, as well as world-class opera and classical music concerts.
Nicholas Coldicott is a Brit who has been writing about Japan’s drinking scene for 15 years, He’s a former editor of Japan’s Eat Magazine and Whisky Magazine Japan, a former drink columnist for The Japan Times and CNN, and a judge for the annual World’s 50 Best Bars competition. He is also the co-founder of Kurokura, a craft sake bottler that selects distinctive, complex brews made with passion by small-scale artisans.
Soukou Kitami is the Tokyo-based Tea Ceremony Master of Urasenke, a top tea ceremony school. He has served as a lecturer of tea ceremonies for various corporations, including Toyota Motor Corporation and Kureha Corporation. Passionate about passing on his knowledge of traditional Japanese cultures, Soukou has published books and articles on the tea ceremony. He was also awarded the title of “Cultural Meister” for his contribution to the subject.
Yoichi Funabashi is co-founder of the Asia Pacific Initiative, a think tank that includes the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation, a research program established in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear accident. An award-winning journalist and author, Yoichi has written extensively on foreign affairs, the US-Japan Alliance, geo-economics and historical issues in the Asia Pacific. He was awarded the first Japanese laureate of Stanford University’s prestigious Shorenstein Journalism Award.
Paul Martin is an expert on Japanese swords and their history. A former Japanese sword specialist of the British Museum in London, Paul was the first non-Japanese to win a “kantei-kai” or sword appraisal competition. Paul has dedicated his life to the promotion and preservation of the Japanese sword, offering his translation services to institutions and museums as well as translating/producing books and DVDs on the topic.
Matthew Jordan Smith, a Nikon Ambassador, is a renowned celebrity, fashion and beauty photographer with clients that include Oprah Winfrey, Danial Day-Lewis, and many more. Matthew’s love of photography has inspired several personal projects including three published books and prestigious teaching assignments. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Microsoft Icon of Imaging Award, China’s Power of Image Award and the WPPI Vision Award.
John Gauntner is recognized as the world’s leading non-Japanese sake expert. In fact, he was awarded the very first Sake Samurai designation, which should come as no surprise considering he’s the architect of the Sake Professional Course and has written newspaper columns, magazine articles, and half a dozen books on sake over the last two decades. John’s latest book, Sake Confidential, is a beyond-the-basics guide to understanding and enjoying sake.
Joni Waka has kept the tradition of Japanese influence in contemporary arts and architecture alive for more than thirty years by providing spaces for exhibitions, film screenings, performances, book launches, promotional events, and residencies. He has produced events with such notables as Gilbert & George, Francesco Clemente, Joseph Kosuth, Tracey Emin, Tracey Moffat, the Guggenheim Museum, the Tate Gallery, the Asia-Pacific Triennial in Brisbane and the Venice Biennale.
Sonoe Azuma runs Unagi Travel, a Japanese travel agency exclusively for stuffed animals. The company’s vision is to provide adventures for everyone around the globe: kids, students, parents, entrepreneurs, teachers, artists, and more by touring Japan in real time via their stuffed animals’ adventures. Her business has fascinated and entertained the world via social media. Sonoe also collaborates with businesses and local governments to offer a variety of tour services.
A Tokyo native, born in 1936, Kazuko Koike is a leading cultural figure and one of the most respected experts in contemporary creative life. She has been an advisory board member of MUJI since its establishment and is the founder and former director of the city's Sagacho Exhibit Space—a pioneering gallery that has helped propel the careers of artists such as Tadao Ando. Koike is currently professor emeritus of Musashino Art University and the director of the Towada Art Center. She has written and edited numerous design books, notably: ISSEY MIYAKE East Meets West; Ikko Tanaka and Future/Past/East/West of Design; Aura of Space; and the TASCHEN Issey Miyake.
Shinichiro Ogata is a designer, entrepreneur, and visionary, bringing his modern, minimalist aesthetic to life in every project his design company—aptly named SIMPLICITY—takes on. His firm has infused traditional Japanese culture into every project, from restaurants to retail locations to products and packaging and more. One of Ogata’s most notable accomplishments: the interior design of the Hyatt Hotels’ Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills.
