Hiroshima Survivor Hideko Tamura Snider

Educating the World on the Consequences of Nuclear Weapons

Hideko Tamura Snider was a child when the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima in 1945. She later moved to the United States to earn a B.A. in sociology and an M.A. in social work. She has written two books: When A Peace Tree Blooms, a children’s picture book about creating peace in the world, and One Sunny Day, a memoir of her life before the bomb, during the explosion, and afterward in both Japan and the United States. Tamura Snider runs the One Sunny Day Initiatives, an organization that educates the public about the consequences of nuclear weapons and seeks to plant seeds of peace, hope, and reconciliation. Tokyo Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Al-Jamie sat down with Hideko Tamura Snider to talk about her experience.

Life after Hiroshima

Mike Kawamura: A Survivor’s Dreams for World Peace

Ikunosuke “Mike” Kawamura is a survivor of the 1945 Hiroshima bombing. He joined the Kyocera Corporation of Kyoto, Japan in 1969. He is known as one of the “Five Samurai” who established Kyocera’s North American manufacturing operations in San Diego. Kawamura has also served as Kyocera’s president in Europe and Brazil, as well as general manager of education and planning at Kyocera International, Inc. Now retired, he promotes peace building through community organizations including Green Legacy Hiroshima and San Diego-WISH. Tokyo Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Al-Jamie sat down with Kawamura to talk about the Hiroshima bombing and the 2015 Peace Tree planting ceremony at San Diego’s Japanese Friendship Garden, which used saplings grown from trees that survived the Hiroshima atomic bomb 75 years ago.

Jim Press

A Driving Force in the Automotive World

Former Toyota North America and Chrysler President Discusses Working for a Japanese Company, the Automobile Industry, and Former Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn

In a League of His Own: Peter O’Malley

Former Owner of the L.A. Dodgers and Ambassador of U.S.-Japan Baseball

Peter O’Malley, a member of the Japan House steering committee, shared his views on Japan House and his love of Japan and baseball with Tokyo Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Al-Jamie. As a former owner and president of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, O’Malley has long been involved not only with the sport, but also with international cooperation and the promotion of Japanese culture. He has visited Japan 80 times since 1956. In 2015, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon for promoting friendly relations between Japan and the United States through baseball, and for helping in the development of Japanese baseball. The Decoration Bureau of the Office of the Prime Minister administers the awarding of the honor in the name of the Emperor of Japan. O’Malley has been widely praised for running the Dodgers as a highly respected, professional, and emulated organization. Indeed, Fortune magazine named the Dodgers as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” three times under his leadership, the only sports franchise to receive such an accolade. His innumerable achievements in baseball and intercultural relations include his role in introducing baseball as an Olympic sport, his contributions to the U.S. Little League program as the longtime chairman of the Little League Foundation, and his decades of promotion of baseball globally, especially in Japan, Latin America, and China. His funding led to the building of China’s first baseball stadium, named Dodger Stadium, in the city of Tianjin in 1986. Other investments have been in the O’Malley baseball fields in Managua, Nicaragua in 1992, and in Corkagh Park in Clondalkin, West Dublin, Ireland in 1998, regarded as the main home of Irish baseball.

Rempei Tsukamoto

Film Director and Screenwriter

Rempei Tsukamoto is a talented Japanese film director and screenwriter with years of experience under his belt. In Japan, his films have been successful with audiences and critics alike. Kazura won Best Asian Movie in 2010, while Prescription Police and Bento Harassment were both acclaimed. In 2019, Bento Harassment was screened at the Japan Cuts Hollywood film festival in Hollywood, introducing Tsukamoto’s work to the international film industry. Before the social distancing measures enforced after the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, Tokyo Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Tsukamoto to discuss his recent trip to the U.S. for Japan Cuts Hollywood (renamed Japan Connects Hollywood) to find out about his film career and the production of Bento Harassment.

J-flicks in the USA

U.S. Releases of Japan-Related Films

Yoko Narahashi

Casting Director Casts Light on the Hollywood and Japanese Film Industries

Yoko Narahashi is an acclaimed Japanese casting and film director, garnering attention for her involvement in such films as The Wolverine, The Last Samurai, and Winds of God, for which she won Best New Director at the Japan Movie Critics Awards in 1995. Narahashi was educated in Canada and grew up learning Japanese, English, and a little bit of French. She cofounded the Model Language Studio, highlighting the importance of language and acting by promoting the teaching of English to Japanese students through drama. Tokyo Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Al-Jamie talked with Yoko Narahashi about her experiences working with Japanese and Western actors, the Model Language Studio, and her legacy in the film industry.

Tetsuya Bessho

Redefining Cinema through Short Films

A veteran actor, producer, and radio presenter, Tetsuya Bessho is no stranger to the Japanese entertainment industry. Following his Hollywood debut in 1990, Bessho has starred in many Japanese and American films, most notably Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth and Parasite Eve. In addition, he has performed in stage productions of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, among others. Bessho is also the founder and director of the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia. Since its creation in 1999, Bessho has promoted the short film culture across Japan through collaboration, online cinema, and the festival itself. Tokyo Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Al-Jamie sat down with Bessho to discuss his personal experiences, passion for film and, of course, the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia.

From Nara, Japan to the Tokyo Olympics

Naomi Kawase’s Vision

for the Future of Film and the Next Generation

One of Japan’s most prominent directors, Naomi Kawase is best known for her documentary-style and semi-autobiographical filmmaking. As a graduate of the Osaka School of Photography, now the Osaka Visual Arts College, Kawase became the youngest person to win the Caméra d’Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for her film, Suzaku. At the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, she took home the Grand Prix for her film The Mourning Forest. Since then, Kawase has served on the Cannes Film Festival jury and gone on to found the Nara International Film Festival in her hometown of Nara, Japan. Her upcoming developments include a new film, True Mothers, that was chosen for the Cannes International Film Festival Official Selection 2020, and her role in producing the official film for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Tokyo Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Al-Jamie met Naomi Kawase at the 2019 Short Shorts Film Festival in Hollywood following her Master Class on the “Possibilities of Film” and the screening of her short film Lies.

Dancer and Actor Naoki Kobayashi

From EXILE to Hollywood

Over the last decade, Naoki Kobayashi has carved out a place for himself in Japan’s entertainment industry. Best known as a performer and choreographer for the J-pop bands EXILE and Sandaime J Soul Brothers, he performs frequently for audiences in the thousands while balancing projects as a runway model and TV and film actor. His latest venture is into Hollywood, making his debut in the English film Earthquake Bird, a psychological thriller produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Wash Westmoreland that was released worldwide in October 2019. Tokyo Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Al-Jamie talked to Naoki Kobayashi about his career in music and film.