Roy English, a U.S.-based songwriter, producer, and musician known by his moniker Jagwar Twin, started writing and developing music at a very young age. After multiple musical endeavors and years of releasing music, Jagwar Twin’s popularity reached unprecedented heights after two of his songs, “Happy Face” and “Loser,” were uploaded on YouTube with Japanese translations. Jagwar Twin became an overnight sensation in Japan. As of August 2022, “Happy Face” had crossed 43 million streams on Spotify, with Japan being in the top five global markets on all streaming platforms. Tokyo Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Jagwar Twin about his experiences as an up-and-coming musician, as well as his connection to Japan.
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Supermodel Jessica Minh Anh visited Tokyo, Kyoto and Fukushima to explore potential catwalk venues. The Vietnamese model has made history by producing fashion shows atop famous architectural wonders, including the Eiffel Tower, One World Trade Center, London’s Tower Bridge, PETRONAS Twin Towers’ Skybridge and the Grand Canyon Skywalk.
Tokyo Yosakoi (dance festival) is the second half of the Fukuro Festival, which has been an annual tradition in west Ikebukuro since 1968. The festival begins with a mikoshi (portable shrine) procession in September, and then Tokyo Yosakoi in October. Yosakoi is a dynamic Japanese dance competition uniting more than 100 teams from throughout Japan, who come together to show off their best moves using wooden clappers called naruko. Performers often combine the standard yosakoi melody with folk songs or modern rock music. The colorfully costumed dancers put on one high-powered performance after another, complete with fervent shouting.
For making last-minute meals, I always try to have a few key ingredients at home. I keep a few rolls of frozen puff pastry in the freezer, and in the fridge I make sure there are fresh eggs, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, vegetables, good ham and milk in the fridge. With these ingredients, I can whip something up to eat in no time. I did this a few weekends ago. I left my house at 5:45 a.m. to go to my triathlon training session. When I got back at 9:30 a.m., I knew I needed something special for lunch. I took a roll of frozen puff pastry out of the freezer and let it defrost for a couple of hours on my kitchen counter. In the meantime, I showered and rested before preparing the rest of the ingredients to make this SUPER tasty tart. For ham, I recommend Mr. Meat’s Spanish Serrano ham. Here’s the recipe: