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

（27）［English Edition］ 週刊NY生活　SHUKANNEWYORKSEIKATSU 2016年（平成28年）3月12日（土）

THE NEW YORKERS

VOICES From

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 USA

Editor in chief: Ryoichi Miura, Associate Editor: Rashaad Jordan, Editor:Kaoru KomiAdvertise Here! Contact 212-213-6069 info@nyseikatsu.com

Locatedin the heart ofTimes Square,the PlayStationTheater willhost two popu-lar Japaneserock acts laterthis spring.

Makingtheir NYC debut April 29 are theGazettE, a Kanagawa-based rock quin-tet that follows in the footsteps of otherGotham-conquering visual kei acts likeX Japan and L’Arc~en~Ciel. Formed in2002, the band has performed in Europemultiple times since 2007, and willheadline its first shows in America thisspring in support of its latest album,2015’s “Dogma.”

The band’s biggest world tour todate kicks off in Mexico City April 15,and will take them to a total of 11 coun-tries outside of Japan, including stops inDallas, San Francisco, and Los Angelesin the States. Still completely self-pro-duced, the GazettE continue movingforward, uncompromised in their artisticand unique worldview at home andabroad.

May 4 brings the return ofBABYMETAL, a trio of teenage girlswho perform a fusion of metal and idolmusic dubbed kawaii (cute) metal. After

playing to a capacity crowd atHammerstein Ballroom in 2014, thegroup returns to support its secondalbum “Metal Resistance,” which willbe released in Japan and severalEnglish-speaking territories in April.After playing venues like the TokyoDome and Wembley Arena in London,BABYMETAL is poised to become oneof the biggest (and widely knownabroad) musical acts in Japan today.

For more information, visitwww.playstationtheater.com.(Justin has written about Japanese artsand entertainment since 2005. For moreof his stories, visithttp://exm.nr/1qXud3i.)

The GazettE andBABYMETAL

Justin Tedaldi

Japanese Winter Olympian skaterFumie Suguri conducted a skatingclass at the Ice House in New Jerseyon February 27. Hosted by the NewYork Seikatsu Press and LeadOffSports Marketing and sponsored byIACE Travel Company, the eventattracted roughly 100 participants−fifty of whom were six-and seven-year-old elementary school students.

Those fifty children were dividedinto three teams, each of which tookturns learning in groups techniqueslike moving forward, moving back-wards and spinning from Suguri andassistant coaches.

The children also learned skills suchas how to skate with a correct posture,use a pivot foot and glide comfortablyon ice. Suguri used a food analogy tomake a major point to her students asat one point she asked the children,“Have you had yakitori? Imagine howyou would stand with a skewer insert-ed from your head to your hip like

yakitori. Try to spin while keeping yourbody upright.” That piece of advicebrought smiles to the faces of parentsobserving their children trying to spinand say “Yakitori” at the same time.

At the end of the class, Suguri signedautographs and gave postcards to all theparticipants, as well as took pictureswith all the children. On what was sure-ly an unforgettable day, Suguri said,“I’m very happy to meet children whoare working hard to adapt to life in aforeign country. I want them to findsomething that can be their passion. Itcan be skating or something else.” Thefigure skater added, “I am familiar withNew York as it was once my maintraining location. I would like to livehere someday.”

The event was just one of many activ-

ities the New York Seikatsu Press hasplanned for New York’s Japanese com-munity. (Hazuki Ichinose/Translated byEtsuko Noda)

Japanese Winter Olympian Fumie

Suguri in action at the Ice House

(Photo: Shigeru Hisamatsu)

Olympian Fumie Suguri Successfully Introduces

Skating to Fifty Children

A large number of Japanese hairstylists come to New York for theNew York Fashion Week and onestop on their itinerary is Momotaro.Owned by Sammy Miyamoto, theJapanese hair salon attracts promi-nent hair stylists such as Shin Hata−the owner of a Tokyo hair salonnamed Max Blonde who has partici-pated in the event seven straightyears− who aim to popularizeJapanese beauty techniques in addi-tion to providing outstanding ser-vice for customers. Momotaro alsoserves as a rehearsal studio for theevent as for the third straight year,Shogo Nikaido - president of theTokyo-based design planning com-pany Augment - sent hair stylistsand managers to the salon to pre-pare for Fashion Week.

Miyamoto once stated, “Timechanges, but the designer’s skill isalways paramount in any era.”(Weinstein Imai Kinue/Translatedby Chikako Iwasaki)

Momotaro Servesas the Gateway toSuccess for Hair

Stylists at the NewYork Fashion Week