Tokyo’s Irish Elect a Queen

Tokyo’s Irish Elect a Queen

TOKYO — Historic doesn’t quite seem the right word for it, but the Irish community in Tokyo will accomplish a first this year: Their St. Patrick’s Day parade, on March 13, will be led by a queen. One night this week, parade organiser Irish Network Japan rented out Modapolitica Aoyama, a Tokyo event space above a clothing store, to whittle 12 contestants to one.

The idea for the contest emerged last December when three men -- two Irishmen and a Briton -- met at a restaurant across the street from Honda Motor’s global headquarters. Over a lunch of yakiniku (Korean barbecue), Andy O’Doherty, who heads INJ, asked the other two at the table to think of ways of attracting more media attention for the 20th annual parade.

Among the proposals: invite Cirque du Soleil performers (too expensive); build floats (illegal on the parade route); get four elephants and a giraffe (tricky); get four elephants and have them painted green (even trickier). “You’re after a show-stopper,” Dane Gillett, one of the trio, recently recalled. But nothing was sticking. Four elephants tromping through Tokyo’s fashion hub would probably guarantee a media turnout, but there were concerns about the paint. “We might get the animal rights people a bit mad,” said Gillett, who is head of business development for Tokyo beer importer Ikon Europubs.

Then Gillett remembered how summer fairs at home in Surrey, England, always had a parade queen. The St. Patrick’s parade in Tokyo only ever had a marshal. “Ever think about getting a gal?” he asked O’Doherty.

“I jumped on it,” recalled O’Doherty, 29, who works in IT support. He made a pouncing motion with his free hand; his other cradled a pint of Murphy’s.

At the moment, though, O’Doherty was in no position to pounce; he was in fact having difficulty not getting jostled by the crowd that had turned out for the parade-queen contest. Up on a green-carpeted stage, the emcee, a broad-shouldered man with a shaved head, introduced the 12 contestants and explained the rules. “Remember everyone -- this is a personality contest as much as it is a beauty contest! Are you ready to choose a queeeeeeen?!!!” shouted the emcee. Enthusiastic applause.

The women posed in casual clothing as the emcee read their profiles. They waved and blew kisses to the crowd. A massive balloon, floating overhead, made its way around the room. O’Doherty took a swig from his glass. “We wanted it to be about personality,” he said. “These contests are about how radiant you are. There was talk of a swimsuit contest. But we said ‘nah, nah, it's about personality.’”

At the back of the room, O’Doherty ran into a trim man in a stylish suit, his hair cut to a stubble. The man pulled out his business card: Folli Follie, Ioannis Begietis, group finance director, senior executive director, member of the board. Last September, the Athens-based jewelry, watch and accessories company opened a shop in the Omotesando shopping district, right on the parade route. O’Doherty introduced Begietis as “the only shopowner in Omotesando who will be open for the parade.” “Call me Stan,” he said, holding out a hand. “Among the Irish, I’m Stan. But my business name is John. That’s what Americans call me. My real name, Ioannis (pronounced Yanis), is Greek.”

Begietis has been in Japan since 2007. The first year he was here he marched in the parade. “I loved it. I was surprised how fun it was,” he said. “I wish the Greeks did something like this. But in Japan it's just me and the people who work at the Greek embassy -- that's it,” said Begietis.

He walked over to a table near the entrance and picked up an orange Folli Follie box containing shamrock-shaped earrings and a necklace. “The official jewels for the parade queen,” he said. “She gets to keep them.”

Begietis pointed to a table, where a stack of brochures about Ireland (“Welcome to the island of memories”) sat next to bottles of extra virgin olive oil from California and Ever Feel cosmetics. “They have lots of info about the country. It's good for the image of Ireland."

Onstage, the emcee, was trying unsuccessfully to quiet the room. “Please put the balloon away -- for Christina!”

He lobbed a different question at each of the contestants who were now in dressier outfits. What was your first date like? (answer: New York City, age 19.) What are the similarities and differences between Japan and Ireland? (answer: both have warm-hearted people.) Who is the most important person in your life? (answer: my parents but especially my mum.) If you were the prime minister what policies would you promote and how? (answer: promote Japan-Ireland relations. Emcee: “If we had you we would not have had the economic crisis!”) What do you say to people who think that football is just for men? (answer: That's crap! I enjoy playing with the boys at school where I teach all the time. Emcee: “Only in Japan can you get away with saying that you enjoy playing with schoolboys.”)

The emcee’s sidekick, a tall woman in a short dress, asked each contestant: Why do you want to be Tokyo parade queen? (Contestant No. 9: “Because I am so healthy and I'm really smiley!”)

It was time to vote, and the contestants repaired to a backroom. Anyone could vote by sending an email to one of 12 addresses corresponding to each contestant. "There are less than 15 minutes left to vote. It's up to youuuuuuuu, ladies and gentlemen!" the emcee shouted.

A group of men near the stage got out their phones and started tapping away. Standing near them was Trevor Allen, the 42-year-old CEO of Ikon Europubs, whose company had organised the night’s event. Allen looked up. "It was a good concept, this contest,” said Allen, a former car design engineer from Westmeath, in the Midlands. "But people are more interested in yakking. Not everyone is paying attention. We need to figure out how to shut people up -- me too!"

During the break, Allen and Gillett huddled backstage with the emcee. Leaning in to listen was a man dressed in a shiny green chasuble and mitre (a hat resembling a chess piece) and comfortable grey shoes. The man in the vestments tugged at his fake white beard, held in place with string loops around his ears, like a surgical mask. He asked if there was a mirror upstairs and disappeared.

Who was that? “The pope,” said Allen. "Oh, I forgot to vote! I'm voting for no. 5.” He paused. “No, I'm going to vote for them all."

What’s stopping anyone else from voting more than once? “Nothing. But we have a filter -- one vote, one email address,” he said, adding: "We're expecting 1,000 votes even though there are only 250 people in the room."

A few minutes later, the 12 contestants filed back onto the stage in a V-formation. As the crowd whooped, the emcee walked to the rear of the stage and said to the man in the vestments: "St. Patrick, are you ready?" St. Patrick nodded and readjusted his beard. On cue, he walked onstage. The audience went wild. He bowed, said a few words, and made his exit. Backstage, when a reporter asked for his name, he grabbed the reporter’s notebook and pen and wrote in nearly illegible script "Richard Flanagan.” He wanted to make sure the website for his business as an Irish Tourist Board-certified guide got mentioned. (richardflanaganireland.com) When asked his age, Flanagan leaned in, pulled his beard from his face and said: "Sixty-seven. But I tell the ladies 65."

Two of the three envelopes were opened, and Ireland’s Ambassador to Japan, John Neary, read the names of the third-place and runner-up queens. A giant orange balloon floated towards them but the emcee batted it away.

“And now the moment you’ve been waiting for!” shouted the emcee.

“No. 9! No. 9!” said someone. 

“Get on with it!” said another.

“Hurry it up!”

“Stop yakking!”

“Kate Bohan!” read Neary.

Bohan, who is from southern California, is an English teacher in the Japan Education and Teaching (JET) programme. “I’m half Irish. Whenever I see shamrocks and Murphy's it resonates with me," she had said earlier in the evening.

The ambassador placed a rhinestone tiara in Bohan’s hair, and they posed for a photo with a large green ¥200,000 (€1,750) shopping voucher from Folli Follie. She also won a Folli Follie VIP Club card, a case of wine, a water purifier, ski resort tickets, and a bottle of whisky.

After photos, the emcee kissed the cheeks of all 12 contestants and swept up Bohan in his arms and they danced a two-step.

(Irish Network Japan newsletter, March 10, 2011)

Postscript: After the magnitude-9 earthquake and the tsunami devastated Japan's northeastern coast, the Irish Network Japan decided to cancel this year's St. Patrick's Day Tokyo parade.