Ain't No Mountain High Enough for Marin Miyamiya

Japan's Youngest Mountaineer to Conquer Mount Everest and the World's Seven Summits

While most Japanese university students spend their time wondering what part-time job to get or preparing for exams, Marin Minamiya, a political economy student at Tokyo's elite Waseda University, is testing her physical, mental and emotional boundaries while also breaking world records. On October 1, 2015, the 18-year-old became the world's youngest female to successfully ascend the world's eighth highest peak, Mount Manaslu in Nepal. She also became the youngest Japanese person to successfully climb a peak above 8,000 meters. By March 2016, she had already skied to the South Pole, climbed the highest peaks in Antarctica (Vinson Massif ), the Australian continent (Carstensz Pyramid) and Russia (Mount Elbrus). In May 2016, she became Japan's youngest to conquer Mount Everest and since then climbed North America's highest peak, Mt. Denali, becoming Japan's youngest to complete the Seven Summits ー the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. Just prior to her Mount Everest expedition, Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie talked with Marin Minamiya about the ups and downs of mountaineering and what lies ahead for the young adventurer.

Sumire Matsubara

Rising Star Returns to Her Japanese Roots

Simply known by her first name, Sumire Matsubara is a Japanese actress, singer, dancer and model. The daughter of entertainers Junichi Ishida and Chiaki Matsubara, Sumire moved to Honolulu, Hawaii at the age of seven after her parents’ divorce, as her mother wanted to shield Sumire from the press and start a new life. After her second year in the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Musical Theatre and Acting program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sumire returned to Tokyo to begin her career in the Japanese entertainment industry. Sumire has appeared in stage productions and on television throughout Japan, as well as in commercials, magazines and corporate events/parties. She also has begun appearing in U.S. television and film, including a guest role on the CBS drama Hawaii Five-0 as well as her upcoming Hollywood lm debut in The Shack, in which she will play the “Holy Spirit” alongside Sam Worthington and Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Rising Star Award at the Asian World Film Festival. Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie met with Sumire to talk about her experiences with culture shock and her hopes to break stereotypes.

Charlotte Kate Fox

The American Dream in Japan

New Mexico native Charlotte Kate Fox made waves in Japan as the first non-Japanese heroine of the NHK television broadcaster's asadora [morning drama] series Massan (2014- 2015), taking on a challenging Japanese-language role with no prior Japanese experience. The role in the series, based on the Nikka Whisky Distilling Co.’s founder and his Scottish wife, made Fox a household name across Japan and launched her career in Japanese television, film, music and theater. Fox has also tackled roles back in the U.S., recently starring as Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway before touring with the international production to Japan. Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie sat down with Fox to talk about her experience living and working in Japan as well as her role in Chicago.

DRUM TAO

This issue’s cover photo is of DRUM TAO. TAO has taken the art of taiko drumming to a whole new level. Over 7 million people in 500 cities have been blown away by these musicians, who are also highly trained athletes that are dressed to kill. Their spectacular costumes were designed by Tokyo Journal contributor and world-acclaimed fashion designer Junko Koshino.

Robert Thurman

Meet the First American Monk of Tibetan Buddhism

Dr. Robert Thurman has some unique distinctions. In 1965, he became the first Westerner to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist Monk by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Not only was he a student of the Dalai Lama, but he became the spiritual leader’s tutor, sharing his Harvard University and Phillips Exeter Academy education on topics ranging from psychology to physics and world history. He went on to create the field of “Buddhology.” TIME magazine chose Professor Thurman as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997, and The New York Times stated that he “is considered the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism.” His search for enlightenment began while he was a university student. After losing the use of his left eye from an accident, he left Harvard to go on a spiritual quest through Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He first saw the Dalai Lama in India in 1962. Not long after being ordained, however, he decided he could be more effective in a university than a monastery, and in 1967 he resigned his monk’s vows of celibacy and went on to obtain an M.A. as well as a Ph.D. in Sanskrit Studies from Harvard University in 1972. He is now a Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University (the first endowed chair in this field of study in the U.S.). He is also President of Tibet House US, a nonprofit organization he co-founded with actor Richard Gere and two others dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization. He’s also President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, a nonprofit affiliated with the Center for Buddhist Studies at Columbia University dedicated to the publication of translations of important artistic and scientific treatises from the Tibetan Tengyur. He is a speaker and an author of books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture. His daughter, who also serves on the Board of Trustees of Tibet House US, is the Academy Award-nominated actress Uma Thurman. Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke to Robert Thurman about the Global Compassion Summit and 80th birthday celebration for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Buddhism, his extraordinary life and his current projects.

日本摇滚传奇Yoshiki摇滚古典乐排行震撼全球

视觉系摇滚开创者摇滚传奇，古典天才与TJ的零距离接触

采访者：Anthony Al-Jamie

To read this article in English click here.

横跨十五个国家，十八场合共一百万粉丝的Tokyo Dome世界巡回演唱会的门票，在尖叫声中销售一空。 Yoshiki和他的乐队X Japan正快马加鞭准备下一场世界巡演。在他的闲暇时间，Yoshiki创作并灌录了Eternal Melody这张独霸日本古典乐排行鳌首的专辑， 而他最新发行的“Yoshiki Classical”刚一亮相便占据了全世界iTunes古典音乐榜榜首。他也曾与世界首屈一指的艺术家和制作人，包括Queen乐队的Roger Taylor和传奇乐队披头士的制作人Sir George Martin 合作为日本天皇演奏。他创作了世博会和最新两届金球奖的主题曲。这位古典音乐天才更是硬摇流派的创新者和“视觉系摇滚”的创造者—结合朋克，摇滚，重金属，华丽摇滚和古典音乐的摇滚新形态。2008年，在图派克的全息影像震撼了图切拉音乐节的四年前， Yoshiki和X Japan就通过全息影像将逝去的吉他手HIDE带回了演唱会现场。许多人认为只有一个超级英雄才能完成这些。 Stan Lee， 漫威漫画的创始人，蜘蛛侠，无敌浩克的创作者，同意以Yoshiki为原型创作了名为“赤血飞龙”的超级英雄。Yoshiki是否无所不能？让我们来一探究竟。

Kondo Your Condo and Keep the Things That Spark Joy

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis described Marie Kondo as a modern-day “Marie Poppins” in TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2015. Kondo “has turned decluttering . . . into shelf help, an art form with a legion of newly neat devotees,” Curtis wrote. The popularity of Kondo’s organizing techniques has caused her name to become a verb. If you have kondoed your house, you’ve removed the unnecessary belongings. Marie Kondo is a Japanese organizing consultant and her most recent book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, has been published in 16 countries. Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Marie Kondo about her career.

Introducing Western Rock, Pop and Punk Pictures to Japan 

Brad Elterman is a renowned photographer from California’s San Fernando Valley who captured iconic shots of 1970s rock, punk and pop musicians including Robert Plant, David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, The Runaways, Bay City Rollers, ABBA and Leif Garrett. Although his gritty, snapshot-like photographs have appeared in such publications as Rolling Stone, People, Hit Parader and the New York Post, Brad made a name for himself sending his photos overseas long before the days of digital cameras and FedEx. He went on to launch one of the first West Coast celebrity photo agencies, California Features International, Inc., in 1980. In 1992, he co-founded Online USA, Inc., which was sold to Getty Images, Inc., in 2000. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Brad Elterman about his early days in Japan and how social media launched a resurgence in his career.

The Man Who Shot the Seventies  

Born in 1948 in London, England, Mick Rock is an acclaimed British photographer known for his iconic shots of David Bowie, Queen, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Syd Barrett, the Sex Pistols and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with recent subjects including Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams, Jimmy Fallon, Daft Punk and The Black Keys. His 2003 retrospective exhibition of 186 prints at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography was described in the Japanese media as “one of the finest collections of pop art to ever reach these shores.” He was known as David Bowie’s official photographer, and his newest publication by Taschen, The Rise of David Bowie 1972-1973, will be available in September 2015. In August 2015, he began hosting his own TV show On the Record with Mick Rock on the Ovation Channel. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie rapped with Mick Rock about his four decades of memorable musical imagery.

From John Lennon to Green Day 

Bob Gruen is one of the most well-known and respected photographers in rock and roll today. By the mid-1970s, he was already regarded as one of the foremost documenters of the music scene, working with major artists such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Elton John, KISS, Aerosmith, David Bowie and Alice Cooper as well as covering emerging new wave and punk bands including the New York Dolls, Patti Smith, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and Blondie. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie interviewed his colleague and fellow Tokyo Journal columnist Bob Gruen about his remarkable career.