NYクール日本COOL JAPAN from New Yorkers’ Viewpoints

NY COOL JAPAN is the English Edition of SHUKAN NY SEIKATSUNEW YORK SEIKATSU PRESS, INC., 71 W 47 St, Suite 307 New York NY 10036 USAEditor in chief: Ryoichi Miura, Associate Editor: Hebah Emara, Editor: Sayaka Murayama

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（31) ［English Edition］ 週刊NY生活　SHUKAN NEW YORK SEIKATSU 2014年（平成26年）3月22日（土）

Japaneserock fanshave a specialbond with theWinery Dogs,an Americanpower trioconsisting ofmusic vetsMike Portnoy(Dream Theater) on drums, BillySheehan (Mr. Big) on bass, andRichie Kotzen (Poison) on guitarand lead vocals. Its members havebeen touring Japan for decades,and the Winery Dogs played theirfirst-ever show last July at JapanYouth Hall Hikaru in Tokyo.

Less than a month after thatgig, the group made its U.S. debutin New York City at B.B. KingBlues Club & Grill in TimesSquare, and returned again inOctober for a special celebrationof “That Metal Show” host EddieTrunk’s 30th anniversary inbroadcasting. (Trunk was instru-mental in suggesting that Kotzenjoin the group).

New York and Japan will crosspaths again as the Winery Dogsreturn to B.B. King on March 25-26 in support of a new special edi-tion of their self-titled debutalbum arriving April 15. It’spaired with the bonus discUnleashed in Japan 2013, featur-ing even heavier takes on tunesperformed throughout theircareers.

In an interview I conductedwith Sheehan in 2011 about hisexperiences touring Japan withMr. Big, he told me, “We pushhard in our appreciation for whatwe have now as a result of thefans there. We don’t forget it for aminute. That’s pretty awesome.”

For more information, visitwww.thewinerydogs.com.(Justin has written aboutJapanese music and performingarts since 2005. For more of hisstories, visitwww.examiner.com/user/1861736/articles.)

THE NEW YORKERSVOICES From

A Very Good Yearfor the Winery Dogs

Justin Tedaldi

Japan Week, hosted by JapanNational Tourism Organization(JNTO), took place at GrandCentral Terminal March 6-8.

A Taisho-era style bar waserected for the event, along withbooths run by several tourism-related organizations. Smart-phones equipped with an English-Japanese interpreter and watchesfeaturing the latest technologywere also on display.

Visitors were glued to a videotelling the lives of more than 6000Jewish refugees who fled Naziforces to Japan on transit visasissued by Chiune Sugihara, whowas Japanese vice consul inLithuania.

Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) inNew York, attempting to attractforeign tourists, received a callfrom a Jewish organization asking

if they would assist the evacuationof Jewish refugees.

JTB used liners betweenVladivostok, Russia, and Japanweekly to transport thousands ofpeople. JTB employee, TatsuoOsako, worked as an escort.

Osako later said in his essay,“Most certainly, we, the Bureaumen, fulfilled our duty proudlyand diligently.”

Osako made 29 round tripsacross the rough Sea of Japan dur-ing the harsh winter of 1940 -1941, transporting refugees. He ispictured to the left in the photoabove.(Ryoichi Miura/Translated byHiroko Makabe)

Japan Society Gallery (333, E.47th street between First andSecond Avenue) opened the exhi-bition, “North, South, East andWest: The Ultimate Treasures ofJapanese Art” on March 7, runningthrough June 8. Its goal is to redis-cover the diversity in Japanese artthrough a display of a collectionfrom the Brooklyn Museum ofArt.

The exhibition is structured by“North, South, East and West,”showing how Japan developed anddeparted from being a homoge-neous nation.

As cultural techniques andstyles migrated from China andKorea to Japan through its south-ern region and moved northwards,the exhibition showcases how thecultural influences spread from thesouth towards the west, east andeventually north. 71 works datingfrom prehistoric times to the pre-

sent day are displayed, includingnot only well-known Japanese tra-ditional arts such as foldingscreens, ceramics, sculpture andukiyo-e, but also Ainu coatswoven with fibers of bark. Craftsand beaded ornaments that arerarely shown to the public are alsoon display.

Admission is $12 for adults,

$10 for seniors and students. Freefor members and youth 16 andunder. Free for all on Fridays6:00p.m. - 9:00 p.m.. A Japaneseaudio tour is held on Fridays from6:00PM. Open on Tuesdays -

Thursdays 11:00a.m -6:00p.m., Fridays 11:00a.m. -9:00p.m., Saturdays andSundays 11:00a.m. -5:00p.m., Closed onMondays and Holidays. Visitwww.japansociety.org formore information.(Ryoichi Miura/Translated byMari Henmi)

“The Ultimate Treasuresof Japanese Art”Exhibition from BrooklynMuseum on Display atJapan Society GalleryThrough June 8

Rescuing Jewish RefugeesA Touching Legacy Introduced

at Japan Week

Kofun Haniwa style clay figures by Isamu Noguchi donated in 1962