Axis Building

      As a closet communist I am uncomfortable with choices, which explains why I love walking over to the five story Axis Building in Roppongi 5-chome: All the decisions have been made for me by a panel of experts. Start with Living Motif, a housewares shop ( perhaps a distant relation to a New York store from the 1980s called Turpan Sanders). On the ground floor it displays a limited cross-section of table ware with a focus on local designers. Along one wall an arrangement of bath supplies waits patiently, with testers available for instant gratification. Furniture and stationery supplies one floor up, and design books in Bibliophile one floor down. Who needs more?

     Across the hall from Bibliophile in Nuno, the showroom of Reiko Sudo, credit cards get a serious work-out. With her work in the permanent collection at  MOMA and the V & A, Sudo-san's textiles blend dreams with Japanese reality. Her fabrics dangle from the ceiling, woven with feathers and the unexpected. Scarves are mildly affordable, and, around the long central table, the only people under 40 are salesclerks. Our first Tokyo guest, Alice, invited me to a business meeting with Sudo-san, who arrived a surprising 30 minutes late. She blamed it on the train, which occasionally runs late due to suicides. (Jumping on the tracks is popular at rush hour.) Although Sudo-san did not give Alice an order, we were pleased to make her acquaintance and admired her super pointy lace-up shoes.

       I've been told that the Axis Building belongs to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama thanks to his mother, nee Ishibashi (Stonebridge), heiress to the Bridgestone Corporation (radial tires). Their family  home in Tokyo has become a popular tourist attraction. As leader of the DPJ (Democratic Party of  Japan) Hatoyama ended the 50 year reign of the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party). Due to his wild hairstyle, Mr. Hatoyama is affectionately called "The Alien."  Mrs. Hatoyama, who had a previous husband and a career as a chorus girl, must have a nickname as well but so far no one has shared it with me. We met at a reception for the ladies social club, and she impressed everyone with her glossy dark pageboy. A regular talk show guest she mentioned that in a prior life she was Mrs. Tom Cruise.

     The Axis Building is a stone's throw from International  House, at the other end of Roppongi 5-chome, where I will introduce Hans' talk next Monday. Time permitting, I'll dash out for a quick browse through Axis beforehand, and, who knows, perhaps I'll run into Mrs. Hatoyama.