Keep your eyes out for the April 2014 issue of Tokyo Weekender magazine on the shelves around Tokyo—we hope you can pick your copy up soon, or stay tuned and read our features as we post them online during the month.

You can also get the full magazine through the Apple Newsstand, which will bring a native reading experience to the iPad, or through Magzter.


April 2014 Editor’s Note

The always all-too-brief hanami season may have already passed its fullest bloom by now, and we hope that, even if you don’t spend a day or two drinking on the blue tarps, you find some way to savor this time when the country loosens up and embodies the spirit of bureiko—playing it free and easy, and not standing on ceremony.

With that same spirit in mind, let’s have a quick look at what our April issue has on offer.

Our cover star is the artist Asami Kiyokawa, an intriguing creative force who is as captivating as the work that has made her famous. She’ll be showing some of her latest pieces at Milan Design Week by the time you’ll be reading this, and we expect that the art and design world who have gathered there will be just as fascinated by her as we were. We’re looking forward to posting more of her images when the article goes online.

Now, while rugby standout Todd Clever’s body of work certainly wouldn’t be described as ethereal, the man they call Captain America is no less an artist on the field. The Top League veteran has made his mark here in Japan, and as the US National Rugby team moves on to the World Cup, you can be sure that Clever will be one to watch in 2015.

As bound to the trappings of modern society as we are, it’s hard to believe that we might have anything to learn from our ancestors who lived tens of thousands of cherry blossom seasons ago. But given the popularity of the Paleo Diet over the recent years, it’s clear that our distant cave-dwelling cousins might not have had it wrong when it came to eating right. We find out how this nutrition-based lifestyle is doing here in Japan, and try out a couple of recipes that prove that “no processed food” doesn’t need to mean “no fun.”

After that, we sample the best Pisco Sour in town, learn how to pick out the perfect knife from one of the masters in the field, take in the latest bold collections from Tokyo’s young fashion designers, and experience Tohoku-style omotenashi in a town where sakura season comes a little later in the year.

As always, we appreciate your readership. We’ll see you next month.

Alec Jordan—TW Editor

Main Image: Complex—Skin (courtesy of Asami Kiyokawa)