Bill Hersey’s Partyline February 1985
February has never been one of my favorite months in Tokyo. It tends to be just a bit too gloomy and cold for me. Hopefully it won’t be as severe as last year with all that snow that went right on into April. I really shouldn’t com- plain as it is the shortest month, and the way time flies, spring will be here before we know it. After all that, it really sounds ridiculous that I’m packing for a short trip to Korea, much colder than here, and may have to fly off to New York City sometime in February. The Apple is also much colder than Tokyo. If I had my way I’d be headed back to warm, sunny Egypt or maybe down to the Vanatu in the Pacific. As unpredictable as my schedule is, that could well happen.
Hameds’ party for Egyptian Ambassador & Mrs. Sabet
On the diplomatic scene the Press and Information Counselor of Egypt and Mrs. Hassan Hamed gave a dinner party in their home in honor of Egyptian Ambassador and Mrs. Mohamed Samy Sabet. Special guests included Nissan President Takashi Ishihara, a director of the Japan Egypt Friendship Association; Takeo Nakatani, chairman of the Japan- Arab Association and Prof. Itadaki of Tokyo University and Prof. Nakaoka of the International College of Commerce.
The media was well re- presented with people from most of the major newspapers and TV stations. Nadia Sabet, a very outgoing and interesting woman, has an extensive back- ground as a journalist. The buffet was excellent, and the mixture of guests stimulating. The mood was very relaxed and everyone there enjoyed meeting new friends and getting to know that Sabets better.
A super evening with Italian Ambassador & Mme Guidi
Italian. Ambassador Marcell Guidi and his wife have been in Japan a relatively short time but have made a great number of friends from all walks of life. They’re that kind of people. An invitation from the Guidi’s always means a special evening with special people, Their reception on Feb. 1 was that and more. The occasion was in honor of the Italian fashion group and the awarding of the Globo d’Argento’ to Yukio Aoyama, President of Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation.
I got there a little early and the crowd was pretty much high-level businessmen, NTV President Morihisa Takagi introduced me to some very heavy-weight executives in Japan’s media world, I appreciated that. About 15 minutes into the party the designers manufacturers, mannequins and production staff of the 1985 Spring/Summer Italia Pret-A-Porte Collezioni arrived and added even more glamor to the already elegant crowd.
For me, it was like old home week as I knew most of the mannequins from Daly or from their past work here, the Ambassador and his spouse made sure I met a lot of interesting people who were visiting. these included Liliana Cavani, director of the film Night Porter, here to do a co-production with a Japanese film company; her assistant director Paola Tallarigo, one of Italy’s top society figures; and Tonio Leonardi, the grandson of Puccini.
Francoise Morechand introduced me to a very in man, young author Yasuo Tanal a. whose hook “Somewhat Like Crystal.” (literal translation) sold three million copies a few years ago. As you can 5C e just by the few people I’ve mentioned it was an exceptional gathering and one I appreciate being a part of.
Hollywood in Tokyo
Columbia Films’ General Manager for Japan Kunikazu Sogabe with Oscar nominee (Best Supporting Actor for “Karate Kid”) Noriyuki Pat Morita. Pat — a former stand-up comedian — plays the part of Miyagi in the flick. Above right: Morita gets a congratulatory hug from “Karate Kid” producer Jerry Weintraub; at a. press conference
What happened at Lex Tokyo
Another Japanese superstar, Hideki Saijo, had a sell-out concert recently and came over to the Lex to say goodbye to Miyama models Jolene Griffin at her sayonara party. Members of the heavy metal group Quiet Riot dropped in that same evening and that, as you can imagine, added both excitement and color.
Our Partyliner Hersey and host at the Lexington Queen sayonara party for the Mikado dancers of the Las Vegas Revue gives each of the returnees a chance to say goodbye to the many friends they made here: Simone, Nicole, Bill, Fred, Patti, Reuben and Christopher.
Got a few calls from Focus magazine (I think) about the “big romance” between actress Diane Lane (“Cotton Club”) and actor Kyle Maclachlan (“Dune”). Well, they were in the Lexington Queen together with about a dozen people including Diane’s father Burt, CIC’s Walter Senior (“Dune” is their pic), Keiji Matsushima of Dentsu who helped Diane with her Max Factor commercial, Kuniko Ishizaka of Ford Models Japan and film critic Kazuko Komori.
Diane did sit and talk with Kyle and danced with him, but they each have their own romantic interests back home, and this was just an enjoyable evening out on the town with friends. In fact the highlight of the evening for Diane was when Rjay Ilg, heading back to New Hampshire for university classes the next day, turned up and they danced much of the evening away. Diane met and be- came friends with Rjay last summer when she was here to promote “Streets of Fire” and he was working part time at the Lex. I guess if you can’t get a story, you have to make some- thing up.
That same evening George Duke and his mellow group showed up at the Lex. Louis Johnson (Johnson Brothers) was with George and has great expectations for a new LP he has coming out this spring. Let’s hope it climbs right to the top of the charts.
Bill Hersey’s PEOPLE: Shoro Kawazoe
Shoro Kawazoe has been involved in so many interest- ing things and still is! – it’s hard to know where to start. His family background could well be an inspiration for novelists. His great- grandfather was one of the men responsible for the Mei- ji Restoration and became a count. His great-grandmo- ther married into the Iwa- saki family which founded Shoro Kawazoe with his actress wife Jun Fubuki and their adorable Akiko, now almost nine months old.
Mitsubishi when Japan “first opened up and was ready for world trade.” Shoro’s father, Hiroshi Ka- wazoe, worked with Prince Takamatsu and his mother, Chieko Hara, was one of Japan’s most noted concert pianists. His parents were divorced and his step-mother, Kejiko, was а famous sculptress who worked with Emilio Greco.
I remember attending a big party at the Tokyo Hil- ton that Shoro’s father in- sisted that the family have after he died. When asked about this, Shoro told me his father said, “Life is like a painting; when you die, the painting is complete and you celebrate.”
Shoro’s basic education was at Keio High School, following which he moved to New York to study flamenco guitar. He worked as a mu- sician in an off-Broadway production, “The Coach with Six Insides,” which won an Obie Award and with which, he traveled around the world. Shoro himself made arrange- ments to bring it to Japan: the first production of its type here which led to the development of Japan’s “un- derground theater.”
After four years abroad, Shoro resettled in Japan and concentrated on showbiz pro- duction. His credits include the first Japanese production of the musical “Hair,” sev- eral hits for Berkley Records of France, the phenomenal Yellow Magic Orchestra both here and abroad, and one of Tokyo’s first international discotheques, Castel’s.
Shoro has an international reputation for getting things done has represented such famed personalities as pho- tographers David Hamilton and David Bailey, Yves St. Laurent and Pierre Cardin for fashion (and theater in Cardin’s case) and actress Catherine Deneauve for com- mercials here.
He and his brother Mitsu- ro also own and operate the supersuccessful chain of Chianti Restaurants; ten in all, five in the Tokyo area and the other five in Nagoya, Shizuoka and Kobe.
In addition to all this, Shoro has just started a new business called Interform that leases everything from dishes to electrical appli- ances to bathroom and bed linens to plants to furniture.
He says his new firm can obtain anything anyone might want along this line and the brands they handle include such prestigious names as Arflex, Cassina, Knoll, Hammer Miller and Kosuga.
His staff members all speak English and are pro- fessionals in interior de- sign. The shortest rental period is one year. Rental periods after a year are un- limited; worn or broken furniture is replaced with new items. Interform has catalogues of what they have available, but if you call them at 406-8751 they will arrange to pick you up and take you to the Roppongi showroom.
After reading all this you might not think Shoro would have much time for a family life, but he’s married to actress Jun Fubuki who does film, stage and TV work and they have a baby daughter Akiko, born May 22, 1984. This is Shoro’s third mar- riage and, from the looks of the admiration, devotion and love he has for his wife and daughter, I would venture to say his last.
In summing up, Shoro told me his greatest feeling of ac- complishment comes when he creates or is involved in creating new things…espe- cially when it deals with international culture.
