Akira Shimada: Life is Edit. #024 A Curious Encounter with Kundo Koyama

Akira Shimada | Life is Edit.

#024 Kundo Koyama and a Mysterious Coincidence

New "something" spun and born from an encounter with a person.
New "something" attracted and born from a thing.
An editor's job is precisely to create such "encounters."
And life itself is precisely editing.
──Editor Akira Shimada introduces the moving encounters with people, things, and events he has experienced.

By Akira Shimada

The job of an editor brings many encounters, but sometimes, in conversations that go beyond work, you feel a mysterious connection that isn't mere coincidence. Recently, I've been blessed with such an encounter again. Kundo Koyama, a broadcast writer and the screenwriter of the film "Departures," is that person. This time, we'll talk about the connections found through travel and dreams for the future.

～The conversation began in the car on the way to Florence～

To coincide with my annual business trip to Milan Fashion Week starting July 18th, there was a special project this time. It involved taking Kundo Koyama to Bulgari's Florence factory and a perfume launch event in Milan, with me reporting on his impressions along the way. For details, please read the November issue of "UOMO" (on sale September 24th).

I arrived in Milan the day before and drove to Florence early in the morning.
Despite the long journey, he said, "I only sleep for three hours a day."
I was astonished by his words. Truly a superhuman broadcast writer.

On the drive from Florence to Milan, Kundo and I had a wide-ranging conversation. As we are only a year apart in age and lived through the same era (especially the bubble economy!), we had many common topics. Furthermore, thanks to Koyama's vast knowledge, our conversation flowed endlessly. During our chat, we arrived at the topic of a certain brand he was involved with in the past.

That brand was "Vanana Trip." He explained that when he was a broadcast writer for the TV show "11PM" long ago, he became close with freelance announcer Terumi Yoshida, and they decided to try and make money together, which led them to the idea of creating clothing.

They commissioned the designer of "Pink Dragon" to create the clothes and opened a store on Takeshita Street in Harajuku. At the time, Yoshida was hosting the legendary TV show "Yuyake Nyan Nyan." To compete with the explosively popular "Sailors" brand featured on the show, Yoshida continuously wore "Vanana Trip" outfits during broadcasts and diligently promoted the brand. However, it was a complete failure. Koyama continued his writing work while minding the store, but the shop closed after only 10 months, leaving a large amount of unsold inventory.

He told me this failure story in an amusing way. Then, Koyama turned to me and asked, "Mr. Shimada, can we somehow revive that brand?"

～Hiroaki Kato's "Green Banana" from nineSixty～

When Koyama said that, the first person who came to mind was Kato.

You can learn more about him, who also has a series on OPENERS, and his jewelry brand "nineSixty" by visiting his series page on OPENERS.Series PageI believe you'll understand more if you visit his series page on OPENERS.

Two years ago, he, who is like a younger brother to me, launched a golf brand called "Green Banana" with some friends. It's a brand currently gaining attention, already carried by Isetan Shinjuku and featured in many magazines. The "Banana" in the name—ah, it's a connection to Koyama's "Vanana Trip"! (laughs)."

Koyama responded, "That's interesting, isn't it!" We were both completely swept up in the moment (laughs).

Coincidentally, Kato was in Milan during our stay in Italy, exhibiting at the joint fashion trade show "WHITE." So, I decided to arrange a meeting between the two in Milan. I asked Kato to come to the Bulgari Hotel for a model photoshoot scheduled for the day after tomorrow, and I cheekily had him help me as my assistant that day.

Although they narrowly missed meeting each other then, we arranged a meeting upon our return to Tokyo. They finally met at Koyama's office.

There, I felt another strange twist of fate.

～It was actually Kato's junior's doing (laughs)～

During the first meeting to discuss future plans, Koyama said, "Do as you please. I'll leave it to the professionals." This put Kato and Tamura from "Green Banana," who were initially a bit nervous, at ease. The conversation naturally shifted to stories of Kato's wild days in Shibuya.

From right: Kato, Tamura, Terumi Yoshida's son, and
Koyama. Later, I heard that this office was designed by George, one of the founders of George's
Furniture.
This too, is a connection, or perhaps a coincidence.

Koyama mentioned that during his time working on the show "Densetsu Shonen" (Legendary Boys), he planned a segment where cast members Kunihiro Matsumura and Terumi Yoshida would go to Shibuya to lecture street punks. He recalled with a laugh how, when they actually went to Shibuya's Center Gai for the show, they were beaten up by real punks. Prompted by this, Kato immediately said, "Koyama-san, that was my junior who beat them up. I apologize!"

Koyama burst out laughing at this and retorted, "Kato-san, actually, the son of the person who got beaten up is here today (laughs)!" It turns out Yoshida's son is currently interning at Koyama's office. Upon meeting him, Kato profusely apologized, "I am truly sorry for what happened to your father back then!" We all had a good laugh.

And so began the special collaboration project between "Vanana Trip" and "Green Banana."

Considering Koyama's accumulated wisdom as a broadcast writer,

～A project is about imagining the faces of those who will be pleased. A project is about thinking of ways to make things enjoyable～

I am confident that this project will surely be a success.
Look forward to the debut next spring!