A Club for the Ages

As Tokyo American Club celebrates its 90th birthday this month, a number of Members reflect on what the Club means to them.

On May 15, 1928, an American icon was born. Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse made his first appearance during a test screening in Hollywood. The cartoon failed to obtain distribution.

Eight days later, on the other side of the Pacific, there was an unveiling of a very different kind. Fifty-one Americans opened the doors of the inaugural Tokyo American Club.

“The American Club of Tokyo is being organized as an American Club and will have the atmosphere common to social clubs in the United States, but will be international in that persons of all nationalities will be eligible to membership,” noted The Japan Times & Mail newspaper in early May.

Housed in the top three floors and the roof garden of the brand-new Iwamoto Building in Yurakucho, the Club boasted two restaurants, a bar, two lounges, a library, a ladies’ card room and such modern conveniences as a heating system and a telephone. Over the next few months, membership steadily grew.

Ninety years later, the Club’s eight-story, Pelli Clarke Pelli-designed facility in Azabudai is home to more than 3,700 Members and their families.

While the Club has transformed its amenities as it has transitioned from one facility and location to another over the years, its essence has remained the same. It is a place where Members forge friendships and share experiences.

This is highlighted in the thoughts of the following selection of Members, who joined the Club in seven different decades.

Daniel Kraslavsky
Member since 1956

First impression of the Club.
I loved it because it was somewhere you could get together with a lot of people you knew. We used to have a daily luncheon liar’s dice game. All the local characters were there. It’s a dangerous game. We used to play for drinks, but then somebody got greedy and said, “Let’s play for money.”

Outstanding Club memory.
I used to be chairman of the bowling alley. I got to bowl against the world champion at the American Club bowling alley. It was quite interesting because he wasn’t used to our lousy lane conditions! I came close to beating him. I thought it would be a wipeout, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Standout dining experience.
My favorite is the low country crab soup. I think it is a signature dish of the Club. I don’t know where else they make it. Today, you get the best crab soup I have ever had, and I have been eating it for 50 years.

Favorite spot.
I would say the old Stag Bar. It was spectacular. You had the long bar and the window and the garden. Of course, the company was great, too. In those days, you had people who lived here regularly for years and years, so you got to know each other pretty well.

How membership has enhanced your life.
I can’t dream of living without [the Club], because all my life I have been a Member. For me, coming over for a weekend brunch was a must. As I have moved farther and farther away from the Club, it is a nice little trip. I used to walk here, and now it takes me an hour by train, but I still enjoy it.

Randy Furudera
Member since 1968

First impression of the Club.
The Club in 1968 was several low buildings surrounding a pool. As an 8-year-old, it made me wonder if this was what a country club in the US looked like.

Outstanding Club memory.
It has to be the pool. I started swimming on the swim team when I was 8 years old, was a lifeguard as a teenager, the coach of the Mudsharks as a college student, and I still swim in the pool with my son today.

Standout dining experience.
Although CHOP today is awesome, I would have to say the simple TAC burger back in the 1960s. You must realize that you pretty much could not get a burger anywhere else in Tokyo back then, except maybe at the Hotel Okura for three times the price. My first hamburger was definitely at TAC.

Favorite spot.
Once again, the pool. The unimaginable luxury of swimming in a pool in central Tokyo was true in 1968 and is still true today.

How membership has enhanced your life.
Membership of the Club is truly a part of my life and a part of who I am today. I can only hope that my son grows up with similar experiences.

Joe Peters
Member since 1979

First impression of the Club.
We were impressed with the comfortable feeling of the Club and knew it would be a great place for the kids to meet up with their friends, for us to meet our friends and a great place to spend some good family times together.

Outstanding Club memory.
Seeing the new Club get completed. It didn’t have the feeling of the old clubby atmosphere, which we enjoyed, but it had a more vibrant and modern feeling, which I’ve come to appreciate more over the last few years.

Standout dining experience.
The best experiences were at the old [Azabudai] Club—great casual dining in the old Mixed Grille and some really excellent dinners in the formal dining area downstairs, especially the holiday dinners and the Sunday brunches.

Favorite spot.
These days, it’s the Fitness Center. I’m there four or five times a week. And, of course, the second-floor meeting room for the TAC Toastmasters meetings.

How membership has enhanced your life.
I’m fortunate that the Club is close to my office. That makes it super easy to get to the Fitness Center. I probably wouldn’t go as often if I had to travel farther. And it’s a nice oasis for lunch sometimes, to get some space, enjoy patio dining when the weather is nice or just relax over lunch.

Steve and Machiko Romaine
Members since 1980

First impression of the Club.
I first visited the Club while a student at ICU [International Christian University] in 1975, as guest of a family friend. I thought it was a place for middle-class business types, not for wannabe samurai philosophers like me. In 1980, I joined the Club as a middle-class business type, courtesy of my employer.

Outstanding Club memory.
Our outstanding memory has to be our wedding in the old Club lobby in July 1976—even before we were Members—thanks to my father-in-law’s membership. What made it even more special was that the Club had inadvertently double-booked our room, but management made up for it in spectacular fashion by building a white chapel in the middle of the old lobby. As a Member myself, serving on the Board under [former Club President] Dan Thomas during the trying times leading up to the decision to build the new building and then through the global financial crisis remains fixed in my memory.

Standout dining experience.
Two meals come to mind: dining at the Chef’s Table [in CHOP Steakhouse] with John and Makiko Durkin, when he opened his prized bottle of 2000 Margaux, and hosting [wine critic] Jancis Robinson at the New York Bridge as chair of the Wine Committee.

Favorite spot.
So many places at the Club have a great feel in keeping with their purpose, which I think is evidence of a design that whilst striking and dramatic is also functional. I probably spend too much time at the 19th Hole and the Fitness Center, not enough at the very comfortable Spa, and I love kicking back for a spare hour in the Library. If I have to pick one favorite, I’d go for Traders’ Bar, which works on many levels: meals, meetings and just some relaxing reading over a great beer.

How membership has enhanced your life.
The Club provides an instant community, along with access to activities in a way which is familiar to Americans: think kids’ sports activities and Scouting, adult social activities, lessons and classes, introductions to Japanese culture and so on. We’ve been able to live a fully Western social life while immersed in Japanese business life—pretty much the best of both worlds.

Michael Van Zandt
Member since 1998

First impression of the Club.
As a local-hire sales rep, fresh out of college in 1992, the Club was the pinnacle of success in my mind. While living in a six tatami-mat room and commuting on the Sobu Line from Makuharihongo in Chiba to Ochanomizu, I often wondered what it would be like to be an expat and about the associated access to the Club.

Outstanding Club memory.
One of the real standout moments for me was when I attended a blind wine tasting in about 1998. The Club, via that event, introduced me to a Shafer Hillside Select Cab [from California] and an outstanding Bordeaux from Margaux. This event likely created my love for wine. Little did I know I would be repatriated to Sonoma County less than two years later.

Standout dining experience.
Without a doubt, it would have to be when my parents spent Christmas with us in Tokyo and stayed in the Guest Studios. We had cocktails in their room with my wife and two daughters and then leisurely made our way to the Chef’s Table in CHOP. As my birthday is also Christmas Day, one could imagine that such a dining experience had many others to compete with, but the open-kitchen environment, fantastic cuisine and time spent with grandparents and grandchildren was something really special.

Favorite spot.
The Spa. It is just such a perfect experience that combines expert therapists, fantastic aromatherapies, a calm and inviting atmosphere and a very welcoming staff.

How membership has enhanced your life.
The Club has enhanced my life in Tokyo tremendously. I love going to the Club to experience the camaraderie of interacting with both staff and Members. It’s a special community and I cherish it. It makes me feel like Norm from [the TV show] “Cheers,” you know, where everybody knows your name.

Jeffrey Shimamoto
Member since 2007

First impression of the Club.
When I joined, we were located at Takanawa on the historic Mitsubishi Kaitokaku grounds. With the facilities being so small and compact, the Club was always buzzing with activity. My first impression was that everyone there seemed very upbeat and friendly, likely because only the diehard Members made the trek out to the outer reaches of Shinagawa, and because there was anticipation of greater things to come in Azabudai.

Outstanding Club memory.
My fondest memories involve my kids, who grew up attending everything from the Christmas buffet to the Bon Odori festival. I remember my kids holding hands and sliding down the inflatable slide at Bon Odori in 2010. At that moment, I felt so appreciative that my kids could enjoy their little slice of Americana in Tokyo.

Standout dining experience.
For a short period after moving back to Azabudai, the Club had a restaurant called Flatiron, which served molecular gastronomic dishes, such as mousse in a tube and exploding golf balls. Paying homage to Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli, the ingredients and cooking techniques matched any Michelin-starred restaurant in the world. More recently, T-Bone Tuesdays at CHOP has become my favorite dining experience.

Favorite spot.
My favorite spot is right outside the door of the Chef’s Table looking up at Tokyo Tower. We are so fortunate to be located in the most prime real estate in the greatest city in the world. And within steps from that view is award-winning dining, impeccable service and unmatched facilities for networking, relaxing and enjoying life’s finer things.

How membership has enhanced your life.
I could not imagine life in Tokyo without the Club. From the moment I walk in the door, I am greeted with “Welcome back, Mr Shimamoto.” And when I walk out the door, I am fulfilled, by great friends, great food and great service. All of my experiences have been top-notch and have prepared me for a more comfortable life in my home away from home.

Rajul Shah
Member since 2011

First impression of the Club.
The current Club had just opened. It was a good place for us to hang out, as we were getting used to living in Tokyo. The first few weeks can be overwhelming, even for kids. Everything’s new and nobody speaks English, so the Club gave us some respite from the cultural overload.

Outstanding Club memory.
I always wanted to learn how to paint with oils. I was really happy to see [the Women’s Group painting] class. It was a couple weeks in and one of the advanced students showed her painting of this gorgeous Buddha on a pink lotus. My jaw dropped, and I asked her how long she had been taking the class. She told me two years. Carolyn [Dong, the instructor,] told me I would be able to do the same in two years. She is such a great instructor that I did it. I brought in a photo of my son on the beach in Waikiki and I painted that. With her help, it came out really well. An artist friend told me it was really good. He is the same guy who signed me to his gallery this last year.

Standout dining experience.
I remember the Flatiron grill at CHOP. That was my first exposure to molecular dining, where they changed the composition of the food in front of you. It was really cool. They gave us this needle to inject the sauce right into the chicken or meat ourselves. It was different and the food was great.

Favorite Club spot.
My husband and I both love Traders’ Bar. For me, it’s the closest thing to the pubs and bars back home, where you can just go and watch sports with nice people. It’s got good bar food, too.

How membership has enhanced your life.
Tokyo is our first international assignment, so, at first, the Club was a nice place to regroup from the cultural immersion. Now we come here and meet with our network of friends. It’s nice.

TAC 90th Anniversary Celebration
May 25

Words: Nick Jones & Nick Narigon