Observing and Depicting the World with a Zen Mind

LOOKING over his collection of photos and prints that were exhibited at the “Tokyo” photography exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum, most of Suzuki’s work focuses on large-scale ongoing construction projects in big cities. The lighting gives his subjects an imposing, dignified presence and a somewhat solemn appearance. These images convey a rich sense of structure and a gloomy, downcast mood, using an overwhelmingly black-andwhite palette. Amid this jumble infrastructure, however, Suzuki presents us with a simple vision. His critical, philosophizing eye exudes a certain aura that stares down the urban clamor of the city and lurches across the frame at the viewer – something that prompted me quite naturally to think of the gaze that often crops up in our conversations. Suzuki is an artist who has an excellent eye. This facility almost certainly owes itself to his long-standing collaborations with Junko Koshino, as well as his keen interest in the humanities, the great issues that confront society today, and the teachings of Eastern philosophy.

The Doctor Who Has Saved More Lives Than Any Other Human Being Alive Today

Interview by Anthony Al-Jamie

Dr. Henry Heimlich is perhaps the most important person I have interviewed in my entire career. He has invented medical procedures and devices that have saved, and continue to save, hundreds of thousands of lives every year. His medical innovations include the famous Heimlich maneuver, an approach to dislodging food from choking victims that can be done by just about anyone without any tools. Its success earned him celebrity status in the late 1970s on the talk show circuit including Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show.” Another innovation is the Heimlich Chest Drain Valve, a device that helps to prevent lungs from collapsing when bleeding occurs by draining air and liquid from the chest. This medical device is used in hospitals throughout the world, by police and emergency personnel to save the lives of gun shot victims, and by military personnel in just about every combat zone since the Vietnam War where the device saved lives on both sides of the line. Dr. Heimlich’s Micro-Trach is said to maximize oxygen intake, outperforming nasal cannulas, while completely concealing oxygen tubes under patients’ shirt collars. His remarkable work with the reversed gastric tube operation in the 1950s was the first full-organ transplant performed outside of the Iron Curtain and allowed patients with a damaged esophagus to swallow again. This is Part 1 of a series of interviews with the renowned Dr. Henry Heimlich.

It takes a special sort of talent to mastermind the world's first 3D photobooth, a replica Lady Gaga speaker, or a radio signal-repellent fashion line. Tokyo Journal's Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie talked with Masashi Kawamura, who alongside his partners at Creative Lab PARTY, has done all three. Established in Tokyo in 2011, and with a recently opened New York office and world-wide projects in the pipeline, it's fair to say that PARTY is just getting started.

TJ: Could you tell me about your background? You were born in Tokyo, and then...
KAWAMURA: I moved to San Francisco in kindergarten, and then came back to Tokyo in high school. I started to get into coding and design at university, and got my first job at a Japanese agency called Hakuhodo. Then I spent about ten years working for advertising agencies in different cities: London, Amsterdam, New York...

TJ: So what did you do with Hakuhodo?
KAWAMURA: I was a commercial film planner, which is a niche title and special to Japan, where TV commercials are considered the main form of advertising. The way it forced me to only do TV commercials was good training but a little limiting for me. I saw the outside world doing more integrated communications and was like, “Wow, I gotta put myself into that group.”

TJ: And tell me a little bit about PARTY?
KAWAMURA: PARTY is a company I started in 2011 with four partners – that’s Naoki Ito, the chief creative officer; Qanta Shimizu, our chief tech officer; Hiroki Nakamura, a creative director, and me. Each of us had been having success in the advertising, communications, and design world, but felt the structures of these agencies were limiting to our desire to push the boundaries of creativity. Now, we specialise in projects that merge storytelling and technology, and we call ourselves a lab to make sure that we don’t forget our experimental and innovating spirit. It’s the first entity I’ve been in that I feel like change is part of the culture.

Thelma Press, Southern California Sister Cities Co-Founder

Born to British parents in Darjeeling, India, Thelma Press attended Loreto College where one of her teachers was Mother Teresa. With this kind of influence, it’s not surprising that Thelma would go on to seek ways to promote peace. She has done just that as a Sister Cities International veteran since 1959, beginning with the establishment of the relationship between San Bernardino, California and Tachikawa, Japan. She has served on boards and in key positions for Sister Cities International, the San Diego-Yokohama Sister City Society, the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego’s Balboa Park, the Asian Arts Council of the San Diego Museum of Art, and the first Sino-U.S. Sister Cities Conference in Beijing. Thelma Press has received over 60 awards for her work in international relations and in 2012 was approved as a Global Envoy, the highest honor of Sister Cities International. Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie visited with Thelma Press in San Diego, California.