Living Legend (12)
Incomparable Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Far More than the Greatest Basketball Player of All Time
Interview by Anthony Al-Jamie
It's little wonder that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been called the greatest basketball player of all time. After a record-breaking college career under the great John Wooden at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the 7'2" history major made history himself during 20 seasons from 1969 to 1989 in the National Basketball Association (NBA) playing center first for the Milwaukee Bucks and then the Los Angeles Lakers. He continued to break record after record as the all-time leading scorer in NBA history, a six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a 19-time NBA All-Star, reaching the finals with eight NBA championship teams (six as a player and two as an assistant coach). Born in New York City on April 16, 1947 as Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, the basketball hall of famer, who was known on the court for his trademark "skyhook" jump shot, is also known off the court as an actor, martial artist, historian, philosopher, public speaker, businessman, philanthropist, education advocate and as a best-selling and highly regarded author. Kareem has traveled the world for his sport and was appointed as a U.S. global cultural ambassador by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012. Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie met with living legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to explore his remarkable life both on and off the court.
The Heroic Dr. Henry Heimlich
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.
Living Legend - Dr. Kazuo Inamori
Kyocera Founder
Dr. Kazuo Inamori
Entrepreneurial Innovator Blends Buddhist Beliefs with Business Practices
Entrepreneur, philanthropist and philosopher, Dr. Kazuo Inamori is a living legend of Japan’s business world. He founded Kyoto-based multinational electronics and ceramics company Kyocera and Japanese telecommunications giant KDDI. His restructuring of Japan Airlines allowed the troubled airline to go from bankruptcy protection to being relisted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Through his Inamori Foundation, he established the Kyoto Prize to recognize individuals and groups worldwide that have made outstanding contributions to the betterment of the global community and mankind. His private management school, Seiwajyuku, teaches his management philosophy to business owners and entrepreneurs worldwide. To top it off, he’s a Buddhist priest who has inspired his employees with a unique management style, which incorporates Buddhist philosophies. Tokyo Journal’s Miyuki Kawai talked to Dr. Kazuo Inamori about his fascinating views and extraordinary accomplishments.
Living Legend - Noam Chomsky
Saving the World from Self-Destruction
Linguist, cognitive scientist, philosopher, logician and political commentator– all of these have been used to describe Noam Chomsky, one of the greatest minds in the world today. Born in 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Avram Noam Chomsky studied linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. He was later appointed as a professor of foreign languages and linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He became a pioneer in the field of psycholinguistics, helping to establish a relationship between linguistics and psychology. Today, he is one of the world’s most highly influential academic figures, being cited in the Arts & Humanities Citation Index more often than any other living scholar between 1980 and 1992, influencing such fields as mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence, logic, cognitive science, music theory and analysis, political science, programming language theory and psychology. Outside of academia, Chomsky is internationally recognized as a political activist for his writing and speaking on U.S. foreign policy, capitalism and the mainstream news media. In 2005, he was named the most important public intellectual in the FP Top 100 Global Thinkers poll conducted by Foreign Policy magazine. Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Professor Noam Chomsky about his views on Japan and some of the greatest threats to the survival of the human race.
Living Legend - Dr. Shuji Nakamura Featured
Nobel Physics Laureate Shuji Nakamura Sheds Light on How He Invented the Blue LED
Dr. Shuji Nakamura, along with two other Japanese researchers, Dr. Isamu Akasaki and Dr. Hiroshi Amano, received the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics in recognition of their major breakthrough in lighting technology with the invention of efficient blue light- emitting diodes (LED), which has enabled bright, energy-saving white light sources. Dr. Nakamura is a physicist and inventor specializing in semiconductor technology. He is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara College of Engineering. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Dr. Nakamura about his career, the intellectual property legal battle he faced with his former company, Nichia Corp., and the impact of his invention on the world.
Living Legend - Dr. Rod Ellis Featured
World-Acclaimed Applied Linguist Helps Pioneer Online Education
Dr. Rod Ellis is a world-acclaimed British applied linguist and thought leader in the field of second language acquisition. In the late 1990s, Dr. Ellis joined renowned applied linguists Dr. David Nunan and Dr. Ruth Wajrnyb at Anaheim University where they helped pioneer the field of online education. A former professor at Temple University in both Japan and the U.S., Dr. Ellis serves as a distinguished professor in the School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Auckland and as a senior professor in the Graduate School of Education at Anaheim University, where he has held the roles of department chair, dean of the Graduate School of Education and VP of academic affairs. He has taught in numerous positions in England, Japan, the U.S., Zambia and New Zealand. TJ caught up with Dr. Ellis at the American Association for Applied Linguistics 2015 conference in Toronto, Canada.
Horiyoshi III
Horiyoshi III
Japan’s Legendary Tattoo Master
Interview by Kimo Friese and Horikichi
TJ: Can you introduce yourself to our readers?
HORIYOSHI: My real name is Yoshihito Nakano. I was born on March 9, 1946 in Shimada, Shizuoka. I am the eldest son with a sister and brother.
TJ: Tell us a little about Irezumi, the traditional art form of Japanese tattooing.
HORIYOSHI: It depends what you mean by traditional? Tattoo tradition, Japanese tradition or Asian tradition? If you say Asian tradition, it was most affected by Confucianism. But if you are obedient to Confucianism, you can’t get tattooed because the belief states that you should not hurt your body. But since tattoo culture had already existed before the ancient Chinese ideas that transformed into Samurai philosophy in Japan, Confucianism couldn’t exclude tattoo culture. The concept of the tattoo can translate into strength, religion, or many other things. But in Japan, it basically represents courage or strength, like the Samurai’s fighting spirit. On the other hand, tattoos also have artistic aspects. Actually, it’s difficult to talk about Irezumi tattoo and tradition because the scope is too wide.
Yoko Ono
Tokyo Journal’s Exclusive Interview with Yoko Ono on the 33rd Anniversary of John Lennon’s Death
Interview by Anthony Al-Jamie
Why is Yoko Ono amazing, you ask? What is not amazing about her would be a better question! Not only is she the most famous Japanese person in the world, she has been breaking new ground in art, peace activism, and music for six decades. Now, 81-years old, Yoko is producing one chart-topper after another, with 11 #1 dance singles, all while traveling the world promoting peace. Performing with her band, the Plastic Ono Band which includes the exceptionally talented Sean Lennon (son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono), Yoko has captured the interest of a new generation not emotionally vested in The Beatles and free of prejudice.
Living Legend - Tadao Ando
Tadao Ando
Self-Taught Architect
Tadao Ando, born in 1941, is a former boxer who became one of Japan’s most renowned architects. His projects, which can be found in Japan, the U.S., the U.K., Spain, Germany, France, and Italy, are known for having large expanses of unadorned architectural concrete walls combined with large windows and wooden or stone floors. He has received such awards as the Pritzker Prize, Gold Medal of Architecture from the French Academy of Architecture, Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects and Gold Medal of the Union Internationale des Architects. He is a visiting professor at Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, and University of California, Berkeley.
Living Legend: Toyo Ito
2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Interview by Dr. Anthony Al-JamieIN March 2013, it was announced that 71-year old Tokyo-based Toyo Ito is the 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize recipient.The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually to a living architect whose “built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and com- mitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.” The laureates are awarded a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion.
Previous Japanese recipients were Kenzo Tange (1987), Fumihiko Maki (1993), Tadao Ando (1995), and Kazuyo Seijima & Ryue Nishizawa (2010).
TJ: Congratulations on winning the Pritzker Architecture Prize! It is the biggest award in architecture.
ITO: Yes. After it was announced, many architects from all over the world sent me congratulations. I was so surprised that it is such a big award!
TJ: Who congratulated you?
ITO: Yes. After it was announced, many architects from all over the world sent me congratulations. I was so surprised that it is such a big award!
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