Society

Tokyo’s Longest Running Social Column With Bill Hersey

I really hope it’s cooled down by the time you read this, but I don’t have my hopes up too high. If you’ve lived here any time at all, you know that it can be hot and humid well into September. We can’t really complain though, as Tokyo has more than its share of air-conditioned public transportation, shopping malls, museums, restaurants, coffee shops, convenience stores, and more. Anyway, it’ll be autumn, a really nice season here in Japan, before we know it.

With lots of people traveling abroad, always busy Tokyo has slowed down a bit. Even so, there are always all kinds of happenings all over Japan. For me, these included an American production of one of my all-time favorite Broadway musicals, West Side Story, as well as the super Drum Tao show.

Unfortunately, schedule mix ups and other commitments kept me from several important events. These included the 119th anniversary celebration for the Philippines, a country I love, which was hosted by new Ambassador Jose C. Laurel and his wife Milagros. The reception and fashion show was held in the Fuji Room at the Imperial Hotel. From all reports it was a very exciting, colorful celebration.

I was out of Tokyo on July 15, so I didn’t get to the Makuhari Messe Convention Center for the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu Jitsu World Tour Tokyo 2017. My thanks to United Arab Emirates Ambassador Khaled Omran Alamen for the invitation to this very special sports event. Kudos to the many who participated in what had to be a great international sports event. Sorry to say I’m not traveling as much as I used to, but it seems like our crazy old world with its terrorism, travel bans, rules, regulations and occasional flaky passengers make traveling more difficult and often more expensive than before. Hopefully this will all get better in the future.