INTOUCH Magazine

The Arrival of Rugby

This month sees the Club launch its inaugural rugby program for youngsters.

Japan is in the grip of rugby fever. After the national team’s historic performance at last year’s World Cup in England, which included a shock win over powerhouse South Africa, the sport is finally in the spotlight.

In Pursuit of a Paddler’s High

Despite the months of soakings as he battled to master the racing kayak, Club Member Eugene Saburi explains why he persevered with the sport.

Amid ever-encroaching employer demands, “work-life balance” has become a mantra of our times. But Eugene Saburi could be a poster boy for this elusive state of grace. When he isn’t juggling the expanding requirements of software giant Adobe Japan, where he’s been president since 2014, Saburi is often out on the water in one of the most tippy watercraft ever designed: a racing kayak.

Acoustic Adventurer

Ahead of performing at a Mardi Gras event at the Club this month, guitarist Kai Petite explains his passion for making complicated music sound simple and his brush with stardom.

I’m not interested in being a rock star,” says Kai Petite. As a musician who spent four years studying at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston and then several more years being groomed for stardom as a Japanese pop singer, he knows what he wants.

Empowering a Pioneer

Ahead of next month’s fundraising Carpet Auction, one doctor explains how a Women’s Group scholarship has enabled her to continue her PhD studies.

Sitting at a table in the New York Ballroom, Samantha Tamrakar’s cheeks blushed as red as the sari draped over her shoulder.

In Greek Gods He Trusts

One Club Member turned around his health by pursuing perfection.

Simon Ross is easy to find in the Club’s Fitness Center. Lying on a bench, the exuberant, burly Londoner holds a 36-kilogram dumbbell over his head. His personal trainer, Marc McDonald, is close at hand.

Flora Fervor

With the Women’s Group’s fall semester of enrichment programs in full swing, one Member explains her passion for Japanese
floral art.

As the daughter of an Indian diplomat, Club Member Preeti Kothari grew up all over the world, from the frenetic urban centers of New York City and London to Kenya and the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

Spreading Good Cheer

Ahead of another session of Youth Cheer Dance classes, iNTOUCH visits the Club’s band of budding cheerleaders.

Five, six, seven, eight,” Iku Ejiri-Hori shouts above the pumping pop music, clapping her hands to the beat. As she begins to bounce on her tiptoes, five elementary school-age girls, adorned in white Club cheerleading outfits, leap in unison in front of her.