The Japan Times PUBDATE: 6/19/2009 PAGE: 22 C M Y K OUTPUT TIME:
16:4:20
6/19/199 / / PT ART/PG 22/ED 1
22 THE JAPAN TIMES FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2009 (3)
SAORI YANO Sapporo City
Jazz-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yung-Hsiang KaoSTAFF WRITER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S apporo will be jampacked withlive music for nearly a monthfrom
July 13 through Aug. 9 —with its biggest jazzextravaganza yet.
Gracing the city with her presence July30 will be 22-year-old
Saori Yano. She’sthe alto saxophonist behind the themesong for TV
Asahi’s ‘‘Hodo Station’’ newsprogram. Though she may look a bit
likeJ-pop star Kumi Koda, especially inrecent promotional images,
Yano hasundeniable talent. With her sultry sound,nuanced phrasing
and confident delivery,she’ll be a knockout.Also check out: On Aug.
9, Japanese popsinger Juju, who a few months ago hadher big break
with the single ‘‘What’sLove?’’; the same day, soulful divaMarlena
Shaw; Aug. 1, legendary,trailblazing saxophonist Sadao Watanabewith
his six-piece band.The setting: The city is a treat as summerin
Sapporo is beautiful since it’s not as hotor humid as is the rest
of the country. The
main, central park that runs through thecity leading to the
iconic Sapporo TVTower will host several performances.The other
main venue is an outdoor stageabout 30 minutes from downtown
Sapporoat the Artpark, where the three-year-oldfestival’s
predecessor, Sapporo JazzForest, was held from 1999 to
2006.-------------------------------------------
When/where: For a schedule of events,information about venues
and ticket prices inEnglish, visit
http://sapporocityjazz.com/2009/en.html------------------------------------------------------
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Nano-Mugen
Festival-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Philip BrasorSPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T here are few success stories inJapanese rock as satisfying
asAsian Kung Fu Generation’s.Formed at Yokohama’s KantoGakuin
University in 1996, the punkquartet slowly garnered a following in
theTokyo metropolitan area beforeappearing at both Fuji Rock and
SummerSonic in 2003. That same summer, thegroup hosted its own
festival,Nano-Mugen, with like-minded punkbands at the tiny
Shinjuku Loft club. Sincethen, Nano-Mugen has become one of
theyear’s major rock festivals, havinggraduated to the gargantuan
YokohamaArena in 2005.Also check out: AFKG’s support acts onboth
days are Manic Street Preachers,Ben Folds, Nada Surf, Hard-Fi
andannual favorites The Young Punx. OnJuly 19 you can also enjoy
local rockersStraightener, Hiatus, Ogre You Assholeand Kiyoshi
Ryujin. Guests on July 20include Spitz, Unicorn and Sakanaction.The
setting: Yokohama Arena is one of the
biggest venues in Japan, meaning it’spretty much a barn (though
not as muchof a barn as Makuhari
Messe).-------------------------------------------
When/where: The shinkansen stops next doorat Shin Yokohama
Station, as does theYokohama Subway line. Tickets for each dayare
¥9,600 and are available at all major ticketsites, or by calling
Disk Garage at (03)5436-9600, but you’d better hurry. For
moreinformation in English see nano-mugen.comDoors open each day at
10:30 a.m. and showsstart at
noon.------------------------------------------------------
LILY ALLEN Fuji Rock
Festival-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simon BartzSTAFF WRITER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J apan’s most famous festival is itsbest, for music quality and
diversity— rock, techno, folk, vintage soul:you name it, Fuji’s got
it. And thepleasure of escaping from stressful city lifeto languish
in a lush green valley in NiigataPrefecture for the weekend is
priceless. I’vebeen to every single Fuji Rock (this is the13th) and
have learned that it’s simplyimpossible to do everything you want
—such as visit all of the 201 stages and watchevery one of the
43,157 artists. So I setmyself five goals: (1) See Lily Allen at
theintimate Crystal Palace stage. (2) Swim inthe river and drink
its water. I do it everyyear, never had a problem. (3) Do
anotherduet with the one-man band guy who popsup all over the
festival site. (4) Light acandle for Fuji Rock stalwart
KiyoshiroImawano, who sadly passed away this year.(5) Not end up in
hospital at any point, whichhas happened to me a few times in the
past.But, at Fuji, something always happens thatyou never
expect.Also check out: Oasis, Guitar Wolf, Ida
Maria, Tokyo Ska Paradise, FranzFerdinand, Dinosaur Jr., The
Birthdayand Friction.The setting: Trees, rivers, fields, a bit
ofmud, sunshine, polite security, total
fun.-------------------------------------------
When/where: July 24, 25 and 26 at Naeba Skiresort, Niigata
Prefecture. Take theshinkansen to JR Echigo-Yuzawa Station, thena
free bus ride to the site. Three-day ticketscost ¥39,800; one-day
tickets are ¥16,800.Camping and parking OK.
Checkwww.smash-uk.com/frf09 for
info------------------------------------------------------
Looking for a dream holiday home in Hawaii?Owning a time-share
resort condominium opens the door to a flexible, luxury and
affordable vacation lifestyleMany people are so beguiledby Hawaii’s
pristine beauty,fresh ocean air and warm hos-pitality that they
return to theIslands year, after year, afteryear.
If you go often enough, youmight have considered buyinga
property there, but housesand condominiums in Hawaiidon’t come
cheap, and the pur-chase price and maintenancecosts are a major
outlay ifyou’re only going to be able touse the property for a
limitednumber of days each year.
One solution is time sharing— a system for sharing theownership
of a vacation homein which each of the joint pur-chasers may occupy
the unitduring a specified period eachyear — which is starting to
be-come popular as a new vaca-tion style among Japan’s
Ha-waii-lovers.
Although time shares haveonly been on the market for afew years
in Japan, they are awell-established vacationstyle among Western
Europe-ans and North Americans whowant to enjoy the ‘‘resort
life’’economically and efficiently.The time-share idea is said
tohave originated at a Frenchski resort in the mid-1960s,when 12
people began to sharea chalet, with each one using itfor one month
each year.
In the early 1970s, the time-
share business enjoyed aboom in the United States andrapidly
developed, replacingrental condominiums in manyresorts. In the
1980s, major ho-tel chains such as the Hiltonand Marriott entered
the sec-tor in earnest, allowing peoplearound the world to enjoy
theadvantages of time sharing.
The system was first intro-duced to the Japanese marketby Hilton
Grand VacationsClub, which runs time-shareproperties in 47 resort
loca-tions around the world.
Hilton Grand VacationsClub began promoting the sys-tem in 2001,
targeting Japa-nese people who were on vaca-tion in Hawaii, for its
newlyopened Lagoon Tower time-share property at Hilton Ha-waiian
Village Beach Resort &Spa in Waikiki Beach on OahuIsland. As a
result of the posi-tive sales response from Japa-nese clients, the
companyopened a sales office in Tokyoin 2003 and began a
domesticpromotion in line with theopening of The Kalia Tower inthe
complex. The number ofJapanese owners, which was6,000 group members
at thattime, had increased to over22,000 group members by thisMay.
As demand increased,the company added the HibiyaVacation Gallery in
Tokyo inMarch to its Shinjuku, Yoko-
hama, Osaka and Nagoya gal-leries.
‘‘Management didn’t expectsuch a good response fromJapanese
people. But withfree individual travel and spe-cial interest tours
becomingmainstream instead of grouptours, Japanese vacationstyles
have changed,’’ saysShiho Sugimoto of the compa-ny’s PR department.
‘‘Even ifyou are not on a group trip, Ha-waii is safe, secure and
youcan communicate in Japa-nese. Hawaii remains highlypopular among
Japanese peo-ple because it satisfies all ofthese needs.’’
In Hawaii, Hilton Grand Va-cations Club’s time-sharingprogram
offers condomini-ums in the best locations inWaikiki Beach and
WaikoloaBeach, including The GrandWaikikian, the latest
additioncompleted at the end of lastyear. By sharing ownership
bythe week, you can buy a high-grade Hilton condominium foran
outlay of just ¥4 million to¥5 million, which is the mostpopular
price range. ‘‘The con-dos are spacious and fullyequipped, so
staying at a time-share resort will make youfeel like you are
living there,rather than traveling,’’ saysSugimoto.
The program divides oneyear into 52 weeks and sells
one week as a unit. Once youpurchase a unit, you can usethe
property for a week everyyear, forever, with just a year-ly
maintenance fee. In addi-tion, with the program’s pointssystem, you
can flexiblychoose to stay at 47 other Hil-ton time-share resorts
or 8,200Hilton and Hilton alliance ho-tels all over the world,
insteadof staying at your ‘‘home re-sort.’’ Or, in years when
youcannot take a long vacation,you could use your points tostay at
a Hilton hotel in Japanfor just a few days and savethe rest of the
points for the fol-lowing year. The ownershiprights are registered
in thestate of Hawaii, like ordinaryreal estate properties, and
canbe inherited by your offspringfrom generation to
genera-tion.
At the Vacation Galleries,detailed explanations on theprogram
are provided, but forthose who wish to stay at aproperty before
making a de-cision, a range of trial accom-modation plans is
available,which combines stays in atime-share unit, program
ex-planations and visits to modelrooms.
Concentrating on after-sales care, Hilton Grand Va-cations Club
holds orienta-tions for owners on how to usethe points system, etc.
At its
Shinjuku Gallery, VacationCounselors are on hand to helpowners
to plan their vacation.Quarterly newsletters coverpractical and
detailed tips onhow to enjoy your vacation, aswell as service and
campaigninformation. The official Website features blogs by
high-profile writers well versed onHawaii about their island
life-style. ‘‘We try to provide mem-bers with practical and
inter-esting information that canenrich their vacation experi-ence.
Enhancing member sat-isfaction is the best way topopularize the
time-share sys-tem in Japan,’’ says
Sugimoto.-------------------------------
For more information, visitwww.hgvchawaii.com or call(0120)
805-817 (Japanese only).---------------------------------------
High life: (Left) The chic wooden-floor living room of a
time-share condo at The Grand Waikikian. Fully equipped,
spaciousrooms provide the comfort and relaxation rarely found at a
hotel. (Right) Splendid night views of Waikiki Beach can be
enjoyedfrom the balcony of a time-share resort condo at The Grand
Waikikian in Hawaii.
Festivalfever
We present ourguide to the best ofJapan’s summermusic
events,encompassingrock, jazz, classicaland other genres —here and
continuedon Page 18
Time-share gallery: Hibiya Vacation Gallery opened in March in
Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward. As demandincreases, Hilton Grand Vacations
Club is expanding its time-share resort business in Japan.
(Publicity)
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