Meet my first man of the 2000s after last Sunday's press holiday. Hiroshi Matsumoto may be 70, and a "banto," but a more civilized and forward-thinking innkeeper you are unlikely to meet in the next 99 years (or 999 years, for that matter).
There is a certain Anglophile quirkiness, manifested in nicely rather than snazzily cut three-piece suits ("waistcoats help keep me warm") and a classic bow tie ("I have over 50! They ensure no one ever forgets me!") He celebrated New Year's Day with two family traditions: "o-zoni" with dried prawns, and a joint of roast beef.
Matsumoto is the senior executive director of Zaidan-Hojin Kokusai Bunka Kaikan (The International House of Japan, Inc.). Yet most people -- especially in the Roppongi area of Tokyo, where it is located -- are more familiar with its shortened form, International House.