The magazine of The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan

October 2018 · Volume 50 · No. 10

Club witha View(and the final floor plans)

Parade from the Past
Remembering the moveto Yurakucho

Rumor Roundup
Alternative facts
about the new Club

Yoshiki’s Battles
X Japan rocker
speaks out

p
i
h
s
r
e
b
m
e
M
New
Campaign
Dining
Voucher00¥5,0For Introducing
to¥20,000 A New Member¥20,000
Five-Year Associate member¥10,000
Outside Kanto Associate member¥5,000Outside Kanto Regular or Outside Kanto P/J Associate member
THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ CLUB OF JAPANYurakucho Denki Building North 20F, 1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0006, Japanwww.fccj.or.jp E-mail: front@fccj.or.jp Tel: +81-3-3211-3161 Fax: +81-3-3211-3168
Terms & Conditions of Dining Certificate
1)
and whose membership is paid-in-full immediately after membership confirmation. 2) Only one
certificate per new member will be issued. In case of multiple claims, reward may be split.
3) Certificate may be redeemed at Pen & Quill Dining Room, Main Bar and Masukomi Sushi Bar
during the campaign period. 4) Certificate cannot be credited to member’s account and is valid for
one use only. 5) Any unused portion of the value is non-refundable. The certificate holder is liable forany amount consumed in excess of the value of the certificate.
6) Certificate valid for 6 months and is non-transferable.
FCCJ may end promotion at any time. Please check with the office to confirm still active.

p

OCTOBER 2018 | FCCJ | 03

October 2018 · Volume 50 · No. 10

Publisher FCCJ
Editor Gregory Starr
Art Director Kohji Shiiki
Editorial Assistant Naomichi Iwamura
Photo Coordinator Akiko Miyake
Publications Committee
Gavin Blair, Co-chair
Geoffrey Tudor, Co-chair
Albert Siegel

FCCJ BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President Peter Langan, Freelance
1st Vice President Abigail Leonard, Freelance
2nd Vice President Robert Whiting, Freelance
Secretary Daniel Hurst, Freelance
Treasurer, Willem Kortekaas, Associate Member
Directors-at-Large Khaldon Azhari, PanOrient News
Daniel Sloan, Nissan Motor/Freelance
Mary Corbett, Professional Associate Member
Milton Isa, Associate Member
Kanji Kazuo Abiko, Freelance
Associate Kanji Makoto Honjo, Associate Member

FCCJ COMMITTEE CHAIRSAssociate Members Liaison Keiko Packard,
Harumi Kumagai
Compliance Kunio Hamada, Yoshio Murakami
DeRoy Memorial Scholarship Abby Leonard,
David SatterwhiteEntertainment Sandra Mori
Exhibition Bruce Osborn
Film Karen Severns, Yukie Kito
Finance Willem Kortekaas
Food & Beverage Robert Kirschenbaum,
Mehdi Bassiri
Freedom of Press Abby Leonard
House & Property Peter Langan, David Satterwhite
Human Resources Willem Kortekaas
Information Technology Albert Siegel
Library, Archives & Workroom Koichi Ishiyama,
Suvendrini Kakuchi
Membership Andrew Horvat, Peter O’Connor
Membership Marketing TBD
Professional Activities Tetsuo Jimbo, David McNeill
Public Relations Rosa Argyropoulos
Publications Gavin Blair, Geoffrey Tudor
Special Projects Haruko Watanabe
Foreign Press in Japan Robin Harding

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan
Yurakucho Denki Building, North Tower 20F,
1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0006.
Tel: (03) 3211-3161 · Fax: (03) 3211-3168 · fccj.or.jp
Published by the FCCJ All opinions contained within
Number 1 Shimbun are those of the authors. As such,these opinions do not constitute an official positionof Number 1 Shimbun, the editor or theForeign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
Please pitch and send articles and photographs,
or address comments to no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp
Read the Number 1 Shimbun online:
fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun
Cover Photo: Kohji Shiiki

In This Issue
Front Page
• From the President by Robert Whiting• Press Freedom News: Myanmar’s Government
Takes a Big Step Backward by Kimberley Phillips

04

From the Archives
On the Road to the White House
by Charles Pomeroy05

Features

Special Section on the Club’s Relocation
Total Recall by Geoff Tudor

06• The Schedule of the Move to the New Premises• 10 Things to Know about the New Premises• Some Popular Rumors

07

Welcome to the Club: A Guide to the Facilities

08

Hybrid Goes Hyper by Shan Wang

12

Last Month in Photos

14

Yoshiki is Still Fighting by Julian Ryall

16

Club News• Exhibition: MEIAN—Chiaroscuri Giapponesi
Photographs by Alessandra Maria Bonanotte

17• New in the Library• New Members• Advance Notice for “An American in Paris”

18

20 Years at 20 Floors: SNL says “Sayonara!

19

PITCH US YOUR STORY
Please send your story ideas tono.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp,
and be sure to note whether you have (orhave access to) visuals. Our rates are ¥20 per
published word, ¥20,000 for a front cover photo.
Photo essays: ¥15,000 for full-page photos and¥5,000 for smaller shots.
All payments will be made in credit
to your member account.

04 | FCCJ | OCTOBER 2018

Front Page

From thePresident
Dear members,In the absence of President Peter Langanand First Vice President Abby Leonard, I
am writing the last President’s Message
to be issued from the Yurakucho Denki Building, home to the FCCJ since February 1976.
On Oct. 26, we begin the move into our
new home on the 5th and 6th floors of the
Marunouchi Nijubashi Building. Although wewill lose our bird’s-eye view of the Yurakucho
cityscape and the Imperial Palace grounds, wetrust the ambience of the famed Nakadori, as
well as all the benefits of a spanking new facility, will more than compensate.

It is with great nostalgia that I write this,given the many memorable events that havetaken place here (particularly as I was front
row witness to many of them). Among thefamous individuals who visited were Muhammad Ali, Gina Lollabrigida, Ronald Reagan,
Willie Nelson, a young and surprisingly articulate Donald Trump, actor Roger Moore of 007
fame and assorted Nobel laureates and headsof state too numerous to mention. AmongJapanese, some of the most influential people
in the nation gave press conferences here,
including Shintaro Ishihara, Hideki Matsui,
figure skaters Mao Asada and Yuzuru Hanyu,
actor Ken Watanabe, Tokyo governor-to-be
Yuriko Koike, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, animation film director Hayao Miyazaki,
and a host of others. Donald Richie and Ed
Seidensticker introduced filmmaking and literary giants like Akira Kurosawa and Yasunori
Kawabata, respectively.
Many members, I’m sure, remember thehuge photograph of Marilyn Monroe in her
birthday suit that occupied a wall in the oldStag Bar. There were villains, too: The Aum
cult made several appearances at press conferences at the Club, pleading their innocencein the sarin attack of March 20, 1995, andaccusing the government of targeting thembecause of their religious beliefs. And there
was grace: One great moment in our “Denki
Jidai” took place on Nov. 29, 1985, when the
Crown Prince and Princess Michiko danced
together at the Club’s 40thanniversary party
in the Capital Tokyo Hotel.
During the Bubble Era, the world could not
get enough news on Japan, and the journalists who frequented the FCCJ were in great
demand – among them too many fascinating
and diverse characters to name here. In the
post-bubble era, however, as the Japanesejuggernaut slowed and China’s economic
clout grew, the dawn of digitalization and thedecline of print journalism, combined with
yet another financial crisis in 2008, proved tobe the kiss of death for many foreign bureaus
and their reporters. Illustrious names suchas Time, Newsweek, US News and World
Report, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago
Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and the big
TV networks: CBS, ABC and NBC downsizedor closed their doors entirely, as a global
readjustment in the news gathering industry
transpired.
As the Yurakucho era comes to a close,
we look forward to adding new and glorious

Press Freedom News:

Myanmar’s Government Takes a Big Step Backward
by KIMBERLEY PHILLIPST

he conviction of two local Reutersreporters in Yangon, Myanmar, lastmonth ignited protests in major cities
and attracted scorching condemnation fromforeign embassies and NGO’s.
Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, werearrested in December 2017, during their investigation into the military massacre of 10 Rohingya men at the height of the crisis that has
plagued Rakhine State. On Sept. 3, after a ninemonth trial, the pair were convicted under thecolonial-era State Secrets Act and sentenced
to seven years’ jail time with hard labor.
Immediately after the ruling, 83 local organizations, including media groups and humanrights activists, released a letter calling fortheir release and slamming the Aung San Suu
Kyi-led government. The administration was
accused of backsliding on press freedoms
that had been expanded during the preceding
quasi-civilian Thein Sein administration.

“We take this as a crackdown on the rightsof access to information and media freedom,
and an oppressive gesture towards all concerned people of Myanmar who aspire tobuild a society characterized by the rule oflaw, accountability, freedom and justice,” thestatement read.
Support for the pair is strong among local
journalists, who say the verdict will have achilling effect on investigative reporters.
Freelance photojournalist Tin Htet Paing fears
the police may target her and her work, saying, “Personally, it scares me. I try to be more
secretive and cautious now.”
She pointed to evidence against the Reuters
duo that was cited by the ruling judge – thepresence of ethnic army members’ contacts
in the two journalists’ phones. The use ofsuch “evidence,” she believes, means that any
reporter could now be targeted.
Outraged journalists launched an #ArrestMeToo campaign on social media shortly after
the shock verdict was announced. The online
campaign statement reads: “If a journalist wasarrested for the data and phone numbers theycollected . . . arrest me too.”
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo’s detainmentand subsequent trial had become a landmark press freedom case under the National
League for Democracy government. Observers expected the NLD government would prioritize press freedom, particularly given thatmany are former political prisoners, writers
and poets. It was those credentials that helped
propel the former opposition party to its landslide victory in 2015.
Reporter Aye Naing, who was arrested withtwo colleagues in 2017 after covering a drug
burning ceremony held by the Ta’ang National
Liberation Army, says journalists were safer
under former president Thein Sein, who abolished newspaper censorship and ushered in
the freest media climate in decades.
“Under the U Thein Sein government,
Myanmar opened to the world, and foreign
journalists could enter the country,” he said.
“The world praised the previous government.
It did the right thing. And we expected press

OCTOBER 2018 | FCCJ | 05

From the Archives
chapters to our history in our new Marunouchi
location. Stay tuned.

On the Road to the White HouseIn other news, here are some highlightsfrom the latest board meeting of Sept.
6, as provided by FCCJ Secretary Daniel
Hurst:The board endorsed our five-year businessplan and action schedule so that the club has
a clear direction for planning purposes. It
moved forward with a review of membershipcategories and associated issues (the details
will be refined at next month’s meeting andthen the proposal will be put to members fora decision). The board also approved a plan
to build new mailboxes at the new premises
and dealt with a few other details related tothe move. Finally, by majority vote, the board
approved plans to begin posting on a bulletinboard in the club the names of members who
are four months or more in arrears on theiraccounts. Members will be encouraged to talkto the club about any special circumstancesthat should be taken into account; and theboard must authorize each time names are to
be posted.

Then U.S. Vice-President George H. W. Bush being introduced at a Club press conference by FCCJ President
Ed Reingold of Time magazine on April 24, 1982. Bush would again visit Japan as president in January of 1992,
when he would make headlines following an acute case of intestinal flu that caused him to vomit in the lap ofPrime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa at a state dinner (see pages 324-5 of our history book).

by CHARLES POMEROY● Robert Whiting — 2nd Vice President

freedom would improve under the NLD government because we believed in our [theNLD] leaders. In fact, it has not been what we
expected.”
Both Aye Naing and Tin Htet Paing maintainthat the government has wrongly charged
domestic media with failing to protect thecountry’s reputation. Deputy Information Minister Aung Hla Tun – himself a former Reuterscorrespondent – has frequently cited “safeguarding” the national image as a priority forreporters.
But Tin Htet Paing says Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe
Oo’s actions are proof they are committed to
Myanmar. “They did what they did because
they care about this crisis, they care about
wrongdoings that should not be allowed tocontinue,” she said.
Reflecting on Minister Aung Hla Tun’s warnings, Aye Naing went further: “If a journalist
discloses a truth, it does not mean that they
are betraying Myanmar. Disclosing the truth isgood for the country. If journalists give priority to the truth, the country will project a good
image to the rest of the world.”● Kimberley Phillips is a freelance multimedia
journalist based in Yangon, Myanmar.

George Herbert Walker Bush wasborn on June 12, 1924, in Milton,
Massachusetts, and married Barbara Pierce of Rye, New York, while he wasstill in the U.S. Navy. His rise
to fame, which began in
WWII as a Navy pilot fighting Japanese forces in the
Pacific, was boosted overtwo post-war decades as hebecame a millionaire in theoil business. Transitioning
into politics, he became a
Republican Congressmanin 1966, but lost a bid for the
Senate in 1970. That effort,
however, was rewarded
by his being named U.S.
Ambassador to the U.N. in
1971, where he served until
recruited by Nixon in 1973
to become Chairman of the Republican
National Committee during the Watergate
scandal. In 1974 he was chosen to head theLiaison Office to the People’s Republic ofChina, effectively acting as “ambassador”
during a time when the U.S. still maintained
formal relations with the Republic of China
on Taiwan.
Bush was passed over as a candidate forthe vice-presidency in 1976, and instead

became head of the CIA from January of thatyear until January of 1977. Then, after several
years spent in business and academic roles
as well as a director on the Council of Foreign Relations, he failed in his bid in 1980 tobecome the Republican nominee for President – instead becoming the vice-presidential
running mate of the winner,
Ronald Reagan. They won, andhe went on to serve two terms
as U.S. Vice-President from1981 to 1989. Bush went on to
win the presidency in 1989,
and served one four-year
term, being succeeded by
Democrat Bill Clinton in 1993.
Of Bush’s six children—foursons and two daughters—
George W. and Jeb eventuallybecame governors of Texas
and Florida respectively, with
George W. becoming the 43rd
U.S. president in 2001. In addition to receiving many awards
and honors, the elder Bush set a number ofrecords, including the longest marriage ofa U.S. President of 73 years, that ended withthe death of wife Barbara on April 17, 2018. He
continues to be the longest-living former president at the age of 94.

He continues
to be the longestliving former
president at theage of 94.

● Charles Pomeroy is editor of Foreign
Correspondents in Japan, a history of the clubthat is available at the front desk.

06 | FCCJ | OCTOBER 2018

FeatureTotal Recall
A personal look back at the Club’s last move, which took place some 42 years ago.
by GEOFFREY TUDOR

V

ietnam fell in April 1975, and with
it came the return of many regularmembers who had been sent tocover the conflict. At the elections
in June, the pugnacious Alvin “Al” Cullison finally succeeded in his bid for president, promisinga more active Club, with an improved library,
weekend operations, better promotion of
events and brighter uniforms for the staff.
But a bombshell suddenly burst. The landlords, Mitsubishi Estate, wanted the Club togive up its space in the Chiyoda Annex Building for another client, and eventually offeredalternative space on top of their new 20-story
Yurakucho Denki Building. They sweetened
the offer with a package of low rent, free furniture and other benefits . . . including spectacular views over the Imperial Palace grounds in
one direction and the fabled Ginza in another.
Intense debate followed. There were loudvoices against a move to the 20th floor, claiming that lunch business would suffer, as the club
had always been a street-level ‘walk-in’ operation. Even the prospect of new hi-tech hi-speed
elevators was unconvincing to some. But in
October 1975 a GMM voted in favor of the Denki
Building and plans were drawn up for the move.
It was scheduled for Feb. 2, 1976, less than six
months after Mitsubishi’s announcement.
Early February is usually the coldest part of
the year in Tokyo and the morning of the move
was no exception. It was also cloudy, windy
and wet; hardly the weather for a carnival pro-Piper Eric Von Hurst and drummer Richard Beere led
the parade.

Former presidents John Roderick (AP), John Rich (NBC), Mak Chrysler (USN&WR), and Max Desfor (AP) led the parade.

cession, but that did not deter abunch of some 50 FCCJ stalwarts,
regular members, associates andstaff, from holding a celebratory
march from the old Club premises
to its brand new home.
The ancient Gods of Japansmiled on the FCCJ that day andjust before the noon procession
got underway, out came the sun
to cast some watery but welcome
The cocktail party at the new club: Mas Ogawa (Japan Times),
light on the happy band of celeYoshi Kawakita, Johnny Fujii (Fairchild), Ben Schranil, Jim Philips
brants as the column made its way
and George Vajda.
down Nakadori to the Club’s fourth
location in its then 30 years of existence.
and office ladies, only slightly distracted by
The connection between ‘Scotland the the spectacle as they made their own march
Brave’ and the FCCJ was not entirely appar- to lunch.
ent but ace bagpiper Eric Von Hurst and hisWith the piper’s tune changing to what may
drummer colleague Richard Beere led the gala have been “Whyte and Mackay’s Lament”, theparade, wrote ‘A Monkey’s Uncle’, the curious happy band entered the Denki Building by thenom de plume of the Number One Shimbun ground floor entrance and made for the 20th
scribe who covered the event.
floor and their new home.
Immediately behind the piper and drummer
The moaning of the naysayers and the fears
came FCCJ ‘indignitaries’ such as Max Desfor, of those who foresaw rot and ruin for the Club
Mack Chrysler, John Roderick, John Rich, Lee was quickly put to rest. The hi-tech hi-speed
Chia and Al Cullison, bearing the Club’s banner elevators whisked members and guests inand holding high the Club’s brass nameplate, safety and comfort. On the club’s first day offor installation at the new premises.
business in the Denki Building, the Main Bar
As I recall from my location at the rear, the overflowed, while the Dining Room (now thewhole march took about 15 minutes, as the Pen and Quill), served a record 276 customers.
shrill notes of the pipes and the crisp rattle ofthe snare drum pierced the ears of the rather ● Geoffrey Tudor writes for Orient Aviation,
thin crowd of bemused Marunouchi salarimen Hong Kong.

OCTOBER 2018 | FCCJ | 07

FeatureThe Schedule of the Moveto the New Premises
These are the dates members should keep in mind when planning visits to the
FCCJ – both at the old location and the new one.

Some Popular Rumors (ormake up some of your own)

Tues., Oct. 16:
The FCCJ takes
possession of the
facility in the newbuilding. It will not be
open to members or
public.

Tues., Oct. 16 –Fri., Oct. 26:

Tues., Oct. 16 –Fri., Oct. 26:

Completion of outstanding
construction tasks, such as
installation of phone lines,
security systems, kitchen
facilities and other items.

Limited numbers ofpeople will be invited toview the premises, test
menu items, and prepare
for events such as thegala opening.

A few of the rumors that we have heard about
the new Club over the last year, which we cancategorically state are false.

It is not true . . .
That the Club will close at 9pm, meaning
fewer guests, meaning less revenue, meaning
the Club will go out of business.
That books in the library will only be digital.

Fri., Oct. 26:

Fri., Oct. 26, 15:00:

Last event at the
Yurakucho Denki
Bldg. premises, acorrespondents’lunch.

Commencementof the move.

Fri., Oct. 26 –Sun., Oct. 28:
The move will take placeover this weekend.

That work spaces will be equipped only withmanual typewriters.
That Associate Members must stay in the“Economy Class” section of the Main Bar, witha menu limited to microwaved items.
That there will be a hot yoga room.

Mon., Oct. 29:

Thurs., Nov. 8:

Thurs., Nov. 22:

A soft open for lunch.
During the soft open, the
new Club will continue
to operate with a limited
menu as fine tuning
continues.

The first official banquet
at the new premises, andthe beginning of full-scale
Club operations. Members
should keep in mind that themove is a huge operationand staff will be adapting to
the new facilities.

The Gala Opening Party,
a stand-up reception formembers and guests.

10
Thingsto Know
About
the New
PremisesThat a full-time employee will be stationed on
the 20th floor of the Yurakucho Denki Building for six months to lead lost and confused
members to the new location.
That there will be deluxe sleeping quarters for
inebriated members.
That the Wi-fi connection will be directly
connected to the Foreign Ministry.
That the menu will be vegetarian only.

Among the many new and improved facilities for use byClub members, the new Club location will feature:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

2 Discounted Parking Spaces for use by members, along with 5
bicycle parking spaces
Dedicated elevators from Parking area and 1st floor
Underground access from all nearby subway stations
Accessible restrooms to accommodate people with physicaldisabilities
Use of a Sports gym nearby
IC chip in membership card
A balcony terrace
Almost twice as many (and bigger) work spaces
Studio for audio recording and small photography work
4 taps at the bar for craft beers

That there will be no vegetarian choices on
the menu.
That in order to maintain their status, allRegular Members must, while drunk, tellthree stories about close calls with authorities
to 5 Associate Members without any of thelatter falling asleep or walking away.
That the restrooms are somewhere in Saitama Prefecture.
That the new Club is somewhere in Saitama
Prefecture.

08 | FCCJ | OCTOBER 2018

5F

FeatureWelcome to the Club:A GUIDE TO THE
FACILITIES AT
THE NEW FCCJPREMISES

4
22

At the time of going to press, much of
the interior work has been done, butwork on the details and operations isstill underway. Here, we offer the most
up-to-date look at the new premises along with amap of the various facilities that will be available
for Club members and their guests.

23

1. Dedicated elevators
Two dedicated elevators will connect the Club to
the Parking and Lobby levels. The building is also
connected underground to all nearby subway
stations (Mita, Yurakucho, Hibiya, Chiyoda andGinza lines), as well as to an underground passage
that leads to Tokyo Station and Otemachi.

2. Entrance
The Reception Desk will be immediately visible
to visitors exiting the elevators, where members
and guests will be greeted by the familiar faces of
the FCCJ Reception staff. Comfortable seating anda selection of publications will also be available.
Unlike the previous facilities, the Club will also havea dedicated coat check area.

3. Reception
The Reception area will feature four televisionscreens broadcasting a selection of news stations.
The right-hand side of the area will have digital
screens highlighting the daily and upcoming
schedule of events held in the function rooms.

21

4. PAC Office
The PAC Office will be located next to the Reception
area to allow PAC staff to be immediately available
to Regular Members and featured speakers.

5. Storage RoomThis is one of two major storage locations in theClub (the other being on the 6th floor).

6. Heritage Hallway
This space will greet members and guests withimages and mementoes from the history of the Club.
Tokiko Shinoda’s historic artwork will be displayed at
the junction of the Heritage and Gallery hallways.

7. VIP Room

8. Gallery Hallway

For hosting VIP speakers prior to their attendance
at press events. This is also intended for use as a
private dining room, and meeting room for seminars,
etc. It is expected to be a popular room that can beused, for example, as a seminar/meeting room in theafternoon, and transform into a dining room for theattendees, with direct access to the balcony.

This hallway features images meaningful to the Clubas well as exhibitions of artwork from contemporary
artists and photographers, and retrospective
exhibitions of FCCJ photos.

OCTOBER 2018 | FCCJ | 09

Feature

4

5
3

7

6

2

9

12. Function Room 1

12

The four flexible function rooms can be rearranged
to a variety of specifications, capable of holding
events of all sizes. With all four rooms in use, up to
220 people can be comfortably accommodated,
more for standing cocktail reception.

81

13. Function Room 2
14. Function Room 3

1013

15. Function Room 4/
Pen & Quill Dining Room
When not needed for functions, this will be the finedining area of the FCCJ, known as the “Pen & Quill.”
It is currently envisioned as being open to the Main
Bar to create a lively “place to be seen.”

16. Balcony Terrace

14

11

16

In comfortable weather, this terrace space will be
open for members to enjoy some fresh air and apleasant view of the Marunouchi business areawith the Imperial Palace gardens in the distance.
Weather proof garden furniture is being newly
purchased for this space.

17. Accessible Toilet
To accommodate people with physical disabilities.

15

17

19. Stairway to 6th Floor

18
19

18. Storage Room
A distinctive grand stairway will lead up to the 6th
floor library, Masukomi sushi bar and administrative
offices.

20. Main Bar

20

The most popular area of the Club, the bistro-style
Main Bar will feature a curved bar, floor-to-ceilingwindows, black and white tiled flooring andthe comfortable chairs and bar stools from theprevious Club, refurbished and reupholstered to all
their historic glory. There are 4 taps at the bar forcraft beers. The horse shoe-shaped bar has been
designed for guests to have views of outside andof friends and colleagues in the seating area. It is
intended to be a more useful and lively bar space.
The flooring in the Main Bar is a combination of tile
formations, with wood flooring around the bar.

21. Kitchen
9. Seminar Room 1
For use in holding smaller events, such as meetings,
interviews, etc. Also for use in high security cases,
for luminaries to be able to enter directly from theelevator. This room can also be joined with Seminar
Room 2 to create a larger space.

10. Seminar Room 2
11. Pantry
This space has been designed to support food anddrink service to functions and events up and down
the Gallery Hallway.

22. Women’s Washroom
Like the previous Club, the washrooms (other than
the accessible one) will be outside the premises.
The floorplate in the new building is much larger
than the previous building, so the public restrooms
are further away.

23. Men’s Washroom

10 | FCCJ | OCTOBER 2018

Feature6F

1. Stairway from 5th Floor
2. EntranceThis is the main junction for the 6th floor, which
offers access to the library lounge area, the stacks,
the studio, the administrative offices and the
Masukomi Sushi restaurant.

3. Librarian’s Office
4. Library

15

5. Library stacks
The custom-made library stacks are glass-enclosed
to protect people with book dust allergies, and areable to hold all the books from the previous library.

6. Workroom
The new workroom is larger than the previous cluband features 20 spaces, almost twice as many as
fomerly. The work space desks are wider and deeper
to accommodate the use of computers, phones,
tablets, etc.

7. Soundproof phone booths
Soundproof booths for privacy when using phones,
Skype and other audio work.

8. Masukomi Sushi Restaurant
The renowned restaurant serves its popular menu
items from new premises here on the 6th floor.

9. StudioSoundproof studio for audio recording, video andinterviews.

10. Administration Back Office
All administration functions except for the PAC officehave been centralized in this space.

11 & 12. Storage Rooms
13. Women’s Changing Room
14. Employee Cafeteria
15. Women’s Restroom
16. Men’s Restroom
17. Dedicated Elevators

Off-site Services,
New and Improved• There are two parking spaces in thebasement Parking Area dedicated to FCCJ
members, available at a discount rate.
• Five bicycle parking spaces will be available
for those members who choose to pedal their
way to the Club. It is possible to increase thenumber to 10, if there is a demand for more.
• Members are also welcome to use theTipness Marunouchi Style fitness club,
located across the street from the Club on the
4th floor of the Marunouchi Brick Building.

16

OCTOBER 2018 | FCCJ | 11

Feature17

13
14

The Marunouchi Nijubashi Building
2-3, Marunouchi 3-chome
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

12
10

11

9

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12 | FCCJ | OCTOBER 2018

FeatureStudy International spun up a few years
later, providing news, university and visa
information, and advice for a more dispersed
global audience of students who study
abroad (“Trump travel ban: What will happen
to international students’ visa status?”). Thencame Travel Wire Asia, which covers buzzier
stories on travel and lifestyle in the Asia-Pacific, attracting a majority of its readers fromoutside Asia. Tech Wire Asia, which followed,
covers tech and business in the region, andreaches professional audiences in major hubs
like Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Taipei, and Tokyo.
Hybrid’s newest site, Tech HQ, first launchedin beta earlier this year and is the company’s
first site focused on a majority U.S. readership.
In aggregate, the sites have passed 10 million
unique visitors “consistently in the last six
months,” according to Craven.

https://hybrid.co

Hybrid Goes Hyperby SHAN WANG

An Asian company of targeted
news sites recently passed
10 million unique visitors permonth – and it’s profitableWhich comes first, the readersor the content?
The sites in the portfolio of
the modest media company
Hybrid have been exacting about matchingspecific audiences to relevant news and information, and relevant advertisers to those relevant readers. It’s a strategy that’s easier said
than done, but it’s been executed faithfully
across all Hybrid’s news sites.
“We saw an opening in Asia, where it seemed
like there was a mixing pot of individual bloggers saying what they wanted to say, in the middle of a lot of mainstream media that was at thetime — and still is — owned by rich people whowanted influence. What started as a blogging
project got bigger,” James Craven, Hybrid’s
managing director, said. “We had a vision for
a young, upwardly mobile audience, who we’d
try to inform with independent and hopefullycompelling content.” Craven, who grew up in
Australia, has lived and worked across Asia, theU.K., and the U.S.
Asian Correspondent — the original site inHybrid’s collection, focused on news and current affairs (e.g., “Everything you need to know
about the Cambodian election”) — launched in2009 and continues to reach a primarily Asian
audience that is concentrated in 14 countries
in the region.
“We thought it was banks who’d knock on
our doors to advertise, but it was universities— the University of Queensland, the University of New South Wales — that were trying toreach this international student diaspora. It
helped us to find our desired target: A young
18-to-35-year-old audience, from undergrad topostgrad, uncovering a whole niche we didn’t
think existed from a commercial perspective,”
Craven said.

https://techhq.com/latest-tech/The company currently consists ofabout 65 people spread across its
three offices: Bristol in the U.K., Kuala
Lumpur, and Sydney. It’ll grow to about 80
by the end of the year, Craven said. The staff
is split roughly into thirds — editorial, productand analytics, and advertising and campaigns.
A single editor-in-chief, Clara Chooi, oversees
the journalists for all five sites, most of whomare based in Kuala Lumpur. Each site has
about four to five dedicated writers. AsianCorrespondent publishes eight to twelve
articles per day; Study International aroundsix to eight; Tech Wire Asia, five, Travel Wire,
three to six, and Tech HQ, four to five. The

OCTOBER 2018 | FCCJ | 13

Featuresites sometimes cross-publish. Most stories
across the sites aren’t exactly robust features
or investigations, though they aren’t all pureaggregation either.
The process is by now well oiled: Monday
meetings that bring in the analytics team to
discuss high-performing stories and why theysucceeded, updating leaderboards that rank
by unique readers and pageviews, daily numbers for the writers to aim for, and occasional
branded content assignments – if the branded
content team is overwhelmed. The team leanson monitoring tools like NewsWhip Spike, anda “campaign hub” developed by Hybrid’s chief
digital officer Chris Cammann, which tracks
how both editorial and sponsored content
pieces are performing across the web.
“We actually give our writers as much
exposure as possible and let them see whatmakes the money and what drives readership.
They’re all very versatile, able to write tech,travel, and politics,” Chooi said. “And maybe
I am blessed with a very good team, but any
competition is healthy, and I don’t see anyone
chasing clicks. I know sometimes giving people numbers can be crippling, that it encourages someone to write for popularity. If I everhear ideas or see copy that is anywhere near
being too much like low-hanging fruit, we’ll
walk it through together.”
What the writers are chasing exactly, varies site to site, as does how readers come tothe site. Asian Correspondent sees the mostdirect traffic and a high proportion of regular, loyal visitors “who come to check up on
what’s happening in the news, not just one
story,” according to Cammann. TravelWireis, unsurprisingly, more driven by socialreferrals; Study International gets social andorganic traffic; TechWire is a mix. (Judging
from CrowdTangle, these sites’ Facebook
pages have, like everyone else’s pages, seen
marked declines in interactions in the pastfew months: “We definitely started monitoring
after the algorithm change, but we didn’t see
too much of a change in terms of traffic coming from Facebook,” Cammann said.)

We’re not going to hire
50 reporters and a whole
video crew and pump in
all these resources andnot have the revenue tosupport it.”

“We look at whether stories get actual
engagement: time on page, bounce rate, willa reader come back to us organically afterwards, are they engaging with our social platforms outside of any targeting, are they reallyreading the content on the site, or can we tellthey just have the tab open?” Cammann said.
“TravelWire can be more fickle, by the natureof travel. Sometimes the trigger is more
image-based, or they might have an interestin a location that brings them to the site, andthen they skim through other posts we have. It
would be different from a piece on Study International, that’s, say, an extensive guide about
applying to an American university, which issomething that would be read again and again
and again.”T

https://asiancorrespondent.com/ge14-liveblogmalaysia-general-election-2018/

he recent Malaysian election, Chooi
said, put their editorial strategy to thetest. “Hundreds of publications aroundthe world were parking themselves here, with
their reporters, TV crews, videographers,”
Chooi said. “Since the elections were mostly
Asian Correspondent-related, I couldn’t eventake all the Asia-based journalists on our team
to cover the races. And we have 220 parliamentary seats.”
Instead, Chooi divided the newsroom into
six teams, one of which stayed in the officewhile other reporters went out to interview

voters and cover specific seats (they scheduled some stories for the other Hybrid sites
in advance). Asian Correspondent then ran
a liveblog that everyone on its editorial team
had access to; the team based at the officehelped with editing and publishing. Later inthe day, the writers scoured other news coverage and social media activity from otherjournalists, politicians, NGOs, and voters to
supplement the live blog.
“I think we were the second highest Google
search in the morning. It showed us that even
if you’re a tiny newsroom, you can still covera big event like this comprehensively,” Chooisaid. “Our strategy lets us pretty much cover
every topic we want to cover.”Choi said she has aspirations for longer
stories (particularly for Asian Correspondent)
which currently require more reporting timeaway from the day-to-day tasks than its sites
can spare, as well as bigger trend reports
on, say, migration of students and mobility.
Reviving video and trying podcasting havealso been on her mind: “One day, when wegrow bigger!”At the beginning of 2018, the company was
advertising among Boston-area universities
for interns who would train three months inBristol and nine months in new Boston offices. But “we just got very busy on a coupleof large contracts that took resources awayfrom it,” said Craven, the managing director.
He estimates a February 2019 launch instead.
“We’re sowing the seeds for our Boston future.
We still have aspirations to become a higher
education media in the U.S.”“We’ve always been profitable,” said Craven, “though not always hugely profitable.
But we always funded our growth organically. We’ve never had big backers. Now we’ve
got nice sustainable revenues from a lot of
longterm contracts, which we didn’t have acouple of years ago, and that makes it a loteasier to plan for employment. We’re notgoing to hire 50 reporters and a whole video
crew and pump in all these resources and nothave the revenue to support it.” He estimates
Hybrid will bring in roughly £4.8 million inrevenue this year, about three-quarters ofwhich come from advertising on the sites,
including branded content, and the rest fromthe Hybrid digital agency’s long-term contracts with clients.
● Shan Wang was a staff writer at Nieman
Lab, where she reported on innovation in
global journalism. She’s currently the editor
for newsletters at The Atlantic. This article isreprinted with the permission of Nieman Lab.

14 | FCCJ | OCTOBER 2018

Feature

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Last Monthin Photos
Club Members Share
Their Best Shots
1. A visitor to the Tokyo GameShow shoots models with his
smartphone on Sept. 21. It is thevideo game industry’s biggest
annual show in Japan and oneof the few trade shows thatstill features scantily dressed
women as attractions in mostbooths. Photo by Albert Siegel.

2. Capturing scenes of sunflowers
at the Kiyose Sunflower Festival
in Tokyo, Aug. 27. The festival,from Aug. 18 to 28, features
some 100,000 sunflowers in fullbloom. It’s Kiyose City’s largest
tourist attraction and is held withthe cooperation of local farmers
and residents. Photo by Rodrigo
Reyes Marin.

3. A mobile combat vehicle of theJapanese Ground Self-Defense Forces
fires during the annual live fire exercise
held at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in
Gotemba, at the foot of Mt. Fuji, Aug. 26.
Some 2,400 personnel and 860 armoredvehicles took part in the drill. Photo by
Yoshikazu Tsuno.

4. Same-sex couple Yuki Shimatani(right) and Reiho Ishibiki are all smiles
as they are recognized as partners
by blockchain technology at Tokyo’s
Shibuya Ward, Sept. 8. The event
was part of “Social Innovation Week
Shibuya,” focused on innovation anddiversity by the ward office and Nippon
Foundation. Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno.

OCTOBER 2018 | FCCJ | 15

Feature16 | FCCJ | OCTOBER 2018

FeatureYoshikiis Still
Fighting
Japan’s legendary
rocker opened up about
his troubled past, his
active present and his
future dreams.
by JULIAN RYALL

L

ike all good rock stars of a certain
age, Yoshiki has seen his share oflife. In fact, the experiences of the
52-year-old drummer of X Japan,
the country’s most successful rock band inhistory, are legendary.
So legendary that when it was first suggested that his rock outfit become the subject ofa documentary, Yoshiki’s first reaction wasthat it would be impossible – in part, because
so much seemed implausible. “As you may
know, X Japan has a crazy history,” said Yoshiki
at a press conference at the FCCJ on Sept. 13.
“Almost too crazy to be true. Too sad to be true.”His U.S. agent proposed the movie, but “itwas so hard for me to open that door to thepast,” he said. “First of all, there was the loss of
my father. He took his own life,” he said. “Thenthere’s the fact that both X Japan's guitar player, Hide, and Taiji, the bass player, have passed
away. Then vocalist, Toshi, got brainwashed.”
For 12 years, the singer was under the control
of a cult called Home of Heart. “So it's like, if
somebody tried to write the script, I thought itwould be too much. I thought, ‘Hell no, I can’t
do that kind of documentary.’"I’d shut the door on those events and wanted to move forward,” he said. “But after several
years of discussion, people convinced me that
our story, what we went through and how wemade a comeback, might be able to help otherpeople's lives, may be able to inspire people
who might have been suffering from depression. Eventually, I thought, 'Okay, that might
be a good reason to revisit those issues' so we
decided to do it.”
The documentary – We are X – was released
in 2016. With contributions from Marilyn Man-son, Gene Simmons of Kiss, Richard Fortus ofGuns N’ Roses and legendary Beatles producer George Martin, the 101-minute documentary won a Sundance Film Festival award andwas broadly praised for tackling some of the
band’s more personal and difficult issues.

The raised profile did not, however,translate into X Japan cracking the
U.S. market. Yet Yoshiki refuses to giveup on that ambition, for other Asian bands asmuch as himself. “Thirty years ago,” he said,“it was impossible for Asian artists to do anything outside of Asia, especially in America or
Europe,” he said. “But over the past 30 years,
things have changed. The Internet has contributed to that and now a lot of artists fromJapan, South Korea and even China have started performing throughout the world. I thinkthat is amazing.”
He spoke about his efforts to spread hismusic beyond Japanese borders. “I moved to
Los Angeles about 25 years ago when I had adream that we were going to be the biggest
rock stars in the world,” he admitted. “But 25
years ago, they were not ready [for us] at all.
Finally, after all these years, the wall between
East and West has become much lower.”
So he has no intentions of following in thefootsteps of Tetsuya Komuro, the famed producer who announced his retirement from themusic industry in January. In fact, he said hephoned Komuro when he heard the news andtalked about the continued struggle.
“Some people will say this industry is hard,”
he said. “But any job in this life is hard. I don’t
think I have made it in the American market
yet, I think I’m still a little unknown, but I’m stilltrying. And it’s not just for me; it’s for everyonein the world. I keep moving forward, I keep onfighting and that’s part of life. Because when
you stop, that’s the time you die."
The press conference was held to announce
several concerts that will be held in Tokyo in
November featuring classical treatment of his
own compositions at the International Forum.
This will be a follow up to two sold-out showsin New York’s Carnegie Hall held last year.
He also told the press that he’d just finishedrecording the band’s latest album, though therelease date has yet to be decided.
Yoshiki caught the onlookers by surprise bybecoming visibly emotional behind his trademark dark glasses. “It’s not easy to keep fighting for 25 years straight,” he said. “Sometimes
I’ve wanted to come back to Japan and say‘I did enough, it’s time to sleep.’ But I am stilltrying to contribute to change the map. [Being
a success in] America was part of the dreamof the members of my band that died too, so I
have a responsibility,” he added.
● Julian Ryall is Japan correspondent for the
Daily Telegraph.

OCTOBER 2018 | FCCJ | 17

Club News
exhibition in Main Bar from Sept. 29 to Oct. 21

MEIAN–Chiaroscuri Giapponesi
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALESSANDRA MARIA BONANOTTE

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1. Notturno
2. Sakura
3. Fuori i Demoni
4. Passaggio
5. Genesi-Teatro del Noh III
6. RiflessioneIn recent years, Italian photographer Alessandra Maria Bonanotte has been fascinated by Japan,
its nature, shrines and temples, festivals, crafts and artisans. In this exhibition, she focuses on
Japanese spirituality expressed in the world of MEIAN, Japanese chiaroscuro.
Alessandra was born in 1979 in Rome, where she graduated in Natural Sciences at the University
La Sapienza and studied photography. She worked as a photographer for the ONG Scuoladelsole,committed to the education of refugee children in Vienna in 2010 and collaborated with the study
Fototeca of Tokyo in 2011. Since 2012, she has worked with the Hiro Gallery and Kyuryudo Art Publishing Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, as well as a number of art publications. Her capacity to capture artists’ beauty
while producing artworks is highly valued, as are her portraits of many great artists, including Fukumi
Shimura, a living national treasure of dyeing and weaving.

18 | FCCJ | OCTOBER 2018Club News
New in the Library
1.
Japan Sales Mastery: Lessons
from Thirty Years in Japan
Dr. Greg Story; with aforeword by Dale Carnegie &Associates CEO Joe Hart
Dale Carnegie Training Japan
Gift from Dr. Greg Story

2.
Haunted by Chaos : China's
Grand Strategy from Mao
Zedong to Xi Jinping
Shiori Ito
Sulmaan Wasif Khan
Harvard University Press

New Members
TETSUYA NISHIMURA
has been working for
the Japanese news
agency Jiji Press for
33 years. Sent to Beijing in 1994, he covered China's politics
including the deathof paramount leader Deng Xiaoping andthe handover of Hong Kong from Britain to
China in 1997. Nishimura took over as Beijingbureau chief and reported on the outbreak of
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
in 2003. After serving as the deputy editor of
the foreign news desk in Tokyo, he covered
the 2012 anti-Japanese demonstrations held
in Guangdong and the Umbrella Movement
by Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters in2014 as Hong Kong bureau chief. He returnedto Tokyo the next year and became desk editor in April 2018.

Join the Film Committee …
…on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 7:00 pm for Ten Years
Japan, the follow-on project to the surprise2015 Hong Kong hit Ten Years, an omnibus by
five young directors imagining the future of
their homeland (the film was banned in China).
Up-and-coming filmmakers Akiyo Fujimura, Chie
Hayakawa, Kei Ishikawa, Yusuke Kinoshita and
Megumi Tsuno were selected to explore theirown visions of Japan in 2028 and beyond. In
Fujimura’s The Air We Can't See, a disaster has
sent the population underground, but one lonely
child finds a “place only kids can go;” in Hayakawa’s Plan 75, longevity is a liability, and the government is implementing a solution; in Ishikawa’s
For Our Beautiful Country, a salaryman begins torethink his job when he has to promote militarization; in Kinoshita’s Mischievous Alliance, children
disrupt the 24/7 monitoring systems that control©2018 "TEN YEARS JAPAN" FILM PARTNERS
their educations; and in Tsuno’s Data, a young
woman finds her mother’s digital inheritancecard, and is able to connect with her past for the first time. All five directors will be on hand for
the Q&A session. (Japan, 2017; 99 minutes; in Japanese with English subtitles)● Karen Severns

REGULAR MEMBER |ASSOCIATE MEMBERS• Sergey Demin, Rosatom East Asia
• Chiyoko Asai, Otsuka Museum of Art• Keisuke Hoshino, Mitsubishi Corporation RtM JapanLtd.
• Chieko Kakinuma, K's International• Kazuo Sato, Yamoto Naika Clinic• Masaharu Takahashi, Toho Facilities Co., Ltd.
• Yoichi Tsuchiya, ACA Inc.
REINSTATEMENT (Associate)• Katsuhisa Miwa, Miwa Seiyaku Co., Ltd.
• Shigeru Tsujimoto, Ohba Co., Ltd.

Heads Up!

Advance Notice for“An American in Paris”“An American in Paris” – the new musical which won four Tony Awards in 2015 – will be presentedby Gekidan Shiki in Tokyo early next year. The musical, full of George and Ira Gershwin’s fascinatingmusic and lyrics, is directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. The show is inspired by
the legendary 1951 musical movie in which Gene Kelly played Jerry Mulligan, an American painterin the starving artistic colony who fell in love at first sight with Liz Dassin (Lise Bouvier in the original film played by Leslie Caron). Your Special Projects Committee has reserved 30 of the best seatsin the house for the matinee show on Jan. 26. Tickets, including a fabulous brunch with a glass of
sparkling wine, will cost ¥16,900 per person. To reserve, contact the front desk.

OCTOBER 2018 | FCCJ | 19

Club News

20 Years at 20 Floors:
SNL says “Sayonara”

S

aturday Nite Live, the weekend live performance event celebratingits 20th year, will hold its last night at the Club’s present space on the20th floor on October 20th, titled, “Sayonara Old Digs Yurakucho
Denki Building SNL.” Appearing will be bluesman Rambling Steve Gardner,
who will be performing solo, and Peter Montgomery, who will performwith his band. “SNL is the Entertainment Committee’s five-star event,” says
committee chair Sandra Mori. “We’ve always tried to provide a wide varietyof performers – in fact, we once had a Himalayan yak yodeler – but we’re
so happy to have Peter’s jazz group, and Steve, who is not only a great performer, but has been our best supporter of the event over the years.”
In fact, Gardner was the first musician to play what became the SNL.
“After working as a photojournalist and musician in Japan since theearly 80’s, the news that the FCCJ is moving has it me like an earthquake,” says Gardner. “Thinking about all the photos of members pastand present being boxed up along with all the photographs taken bycorrespondents during WWII, the Korean and Vietnam wars, I can’t help
but hum a tune sung by one of the toughest women of the blues, Koko
Taylor. It’s called “If Walls Could Talk,” because if these here could, thebuilding just might burn down before we can move.” Come to the Cluband you just might hear it.

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