Month: March 2023

I Might Change Two Youngster’s Life This Week

Just like my life changed 40-some years ago

Image by Traditional Arts Super Collage of Kyoto (TASK)

Tomorrow is a big day for me.

Two students from TASK are flying into Seatac Airport tomorrow.  Sponsored by Five Senses Foundation, the nonprofit organization I founded, these students will experience eight days of cultural exchange.  After three years of delay because of the pandemic, the program is finally coming true!

The program includes:

  • Visits to campuses of major US corporates  (Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Starbucks)
  • Cultural workshop at Seattle University
  • Tours at Seattle Art Museum and Portland Japanese Garden
  • Private house tours in Whidbey island
  • Staying with a local American family rather than staying at a hotel. 

The students get to visit places that normal tourists wouldn’t have an opportunity to visit.  They get a glimpse of how Americans learn, work, and live firsthand.

What will these two young Japanese women grasp and pay attention to?  What will they be surprised, impressed, or inspired by?  What impact will this week give them?

I have no idea. 

I had my SUV washed yesterday.  This afternoon I will start cooking for the welcome dinner tomorrow.  I will do my best to navigate them, drive them, and serve them this coming week. 

Most likely I won’t be able to write an article in the coming week.  My apologies in advance. 

My previous posts describing how this program has evolved

How Future Traditional Craftspeople Are Trained at TASK
Visiting Kyoto?  Don’t Miss This Hidden Gem!
This Super College Teaches 10 Vital Courses for Japan   

Ikebana Anytime, Anywhere, Anybody

Sogetsu School is avant-garde

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

Founded in 1927 by Teshigahara Sofu, Sogetsu School is well known for its free, avant-garde Ikebana style.

Western magazines such as Time in the US and Le Figaro in France appropriately called Teshigahara Sofu (1900 – 1979), the founder of Sogetsu School, “Picasso of flowers.”  Sofu was instrumental in elevating Ikebana to an art form.

The motto of Sogetsu School is “Ikebana Anytime, Anywhere, Anybody.”  The arrangement is not limited to being displayed in only Tokonoma, but anywhere.  People can freely select where to arrange flowers and when.  Sofu created a methodological curriculum so that anybody who follows the textbook can create a beautiful arrangement from day 1.

Sofu was a great marketer as well. 

Soon after World War II, GHQ officers came to Japan as well as diplomats from all over the world with their own families.  Sofu taught Sogetsu Ikebana to their wives in English.  They took lessons from Sofu, and got teacher’s certificates.  When they went back home, many started teaching Sogetsu Ikebana in their own countries.

I happened to learn Sogetsu Ikebana in Seattle.  I owe to Sofu and those wives who had studied Ikebana way before I was born.  Thanks to them, Sogetsu Ikebana is so prevalent all over the world and I’m one of the beneficiaries. 

Start A Day with Happiness

Photo by Szilvia Basso on Unsplash

For years I kept pursuing happiness.  If I get good grades will I become happy?  If I get a good job will I become happy?  If I get promoted?  If I get married?  If I own my business?  If I get rich?

The moment I achieved my goal, it was not happiness but emptiness that crept on me. 

“Today we are seeking happiness so vigorously that the very life of the planet is being threatened. All those people, who depend on external situations to be happy, will never know true joy in their lives.

Sadhguru

The quote above hit me hard.  It had me redefine happiness 180 degrees.

Happiness is not to be pursued, but to be realized.  Ever since I encountered the quote above, Every morning, I tell myself to be happy.  I might face a tough negotiation that day.  The stock market might have crashed the day before.  I might have lost a person who is dear to me. 

Regardless of the outside situations, I start the day with happiness in me.  At least I try every morning, to remind myself that happiness is not a goal but the foundation of life.

How Future Traditional Craftspeople Are Trained at TASK

My visit to the campus percolated an idea

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

The “Open Campus” program offered by TASK (Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto) gave me another surprising opportunity in addition to making my own wooden pencil case.

…

After a short presentation and a video introducing TASK, an instructor lead me and a teenage boy from the auditorium to the woodwork studio. 

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

On the wooden table, two sets of small pieces of wood and tools were laid out.  A chisel, a saw, a plane, glue, and sandpaper… When was the last time I touched these tools, or have I ever used a chisel or plane?  The instructor was patient enough not to lose her cool until both of us completed the whole process.  I planed the lid too much so that it was a little loose.  Well, at least it looked decently rectangular of a pencil case.  I think I understand why I didn’t become a master craftsperson.

It was Sunday, but several students were at the studio working on their own projects.  According to the instructor, it was not uncommon to see students on weekends.  I asked one of them if she enjoyed studying here.  Her response of a powerful “yes!”

…

This campus visit convinced me to make a proposal to the school, that Five Senses Foundation, the non-profit organization I run, would sponsor two students to spend a week in Seattle.

Why?

The students at TASK reminded me of myself a long time ago when I was in high school.

I spent one year in a small city in Pennsylvania as an exchange student.  It was in the late seventies.   There was no Internet, but we had TVs.  I thought I knew the US pretty well, until I arrived. 

The houses and the cars looked enormous. The ceiling of the living room was so high, and I had never seen such huge walls in a house.  The dining table looked larger than the entire kitchen of my house in Japan.  In the US, everything was huge!

There were and still are so many differences in lifestyle between the two countries.  Seeing is believing.  No TV program nor the book is sufficient.  Firsthand experience is vital.

The domestic demand for Japanese traditional arts and crafts is dwindling.  The industry must create demand outside Japan.  The US remains the dominant economy, and it makes sense to market there.  The first step is to understand the customers.  I wanted the students at TASK to experience the US firsthand, as I did years ago.

How Samurai Made Use of Tea Utensils

Tea utensils as financial and political tools

Oda Nobunaga: Widimedia Public Domain

No, Oda Nobunaga 織田信長 was not crazy to forgo the opportunity to grab the whole state in return for the little tea caddy.

Oda Nobunaga was the first samurai warlord who unified Japan.   He took advantage of the valuable tea ceremony utensils and fervently collected them.  He either bought them for excessive prices or took them by force from other samurai.  Nobunaga’s tea utensil collection became enormous. 

At the same time, Nobunaga forbade his subordinate samurai to perform tea gatherings without his permission.  There were only six or so samurai who were granted this right.  Nobunaga gave away his tea utensils as remuneration to his subordinates. 

One time a samurai was granted a huge swath of land for his contribution, but he lamented that he was not granted a famous tea container instead.

For Nobunaga, the tea ceremony and tea utensils were useful tools, financially and politically, to achieve his ambition to eventually dominate all of Japan. 

Japanese Flower Arrangement Meets The Western World

Moribana: Innovation by Ohara School of Ikebana

Moribana Style of Ohara School Ikebana: Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

While Japan closed its doors to the world from the early 17th century until the late 19th century, Ikebana became prevalent among people in Japan.  Not only the ruling samurai class but also the general public enjoyed arranging flowers. 

Most houses in Japan had an alcove called Tokonoma, and people displayed Ikebana there.  Since the alcove’s platform was low, people used a rather tall vase for their Ikebana. 

Japan opened its country to the west in the late 19th century.  The new Meiji government began to construct western-style buildings.  Foreigners came in and started building western-style homes.  These western-style buildings didn’t have Tokonokoma but were furnished with tables and chairs. 

Ohara Unshin, the founder of Ohara School of Ikebana, realized that the way to display Ikebana arrangement needs to adapt to the new building style. Replacing the previously used tall vase with a small opening, he originated and actually designed the low, flat, wide-surfaced Moribana containers for the many colorful flowers from the West. 

This new container shape greatly enlarged the scope of expression available to Ikebana.  Moribana became the main style and contributed to the increasing popularity of Ikebana.

The invention of Moribana-style ikebana is one example of how innovation enables tradition to survive and thrive. 

In 2019 in Seattle, the fifth-generation headmaster Ohara Hiroki performed an Ikebana demonstration wearing Microsoft Holo Lens.  It was the world’s premier of combining the traditional Ikebana installation and cutting-edge mixed reality technology.

This innovative spirit of Ohara School is still alive today.

Where My Indoor Plants Came from

Thanks to the global economy

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

I enjoy the bright red foliage of anthurium in my living room.  Yes, nowadays many more people are interested in indoor plants as a way to bring nature into their homes. 

But I didn’t grow up with indoor plants at home in Japan.  That doesn’t mean my parents weren’t nature lovers.  Far from it.  They used to grow bonsai trees, most of them azaleas, for years.  Once in a while, my father would decorate the entrance with the beautiful bonsai tree, full in bloom.  But as soon as the flowers were gone he took the bonsai tree back outside.

Why didn’t my parents keep bonsai trees indoors? Since I had no knowledge about growing bonsai trees, I googled and found out its general practice.

Usually, a bonsai tree is taken from nature, and the growing environment should be closer to its original place.  In most places in Japan, there are distinct four seasons.  In the cold winter, trees become dormant. If the bonsai tree is grown indoors all year round, it can’t be exposed to the natural rhythm and it won’t survive. 

Nowadays we are living in comfortable conditions with temperature control all year round.  Japan’s native plants are not suitable for such a condition, but tropical or semi-tropical plants are perfect.

Anthurium is from Central America.  Monstera, another of my favorite indoor plant, is also native to Central America.  So are many indoor plants.  Without the advancement of global trade, the beautiful red foliage wouldn’t have reached my living room…

Visiting Kyoto?  Don’t Miss This Hidden Gem!

Gallery of Kyoto Traditional Arts & Crafts

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

You don’t want to miss Kyoto when traveling to Japan. What exactly do you want to see there? 

Yes, you can visit the impressive stage of Kyiyomizu Temple.  Yes, you can take a selfie in that famous shrine with so many red torii gates. And yes, you may encounter real geishas who are wearing beautiful kimono.

But beyond its buildings or beautiful komono, what really makes Kyoto so special is those master craftspeople who are trained to make all the things you may admire. 

For example, have you ever seen how those intricate Buddha statues are created?  How the colorful kimonos are dyed?  How the meticulous design of the bamboo basket is formed?  You can see real people creating these beautiful items firsthand in the middle of the city of Kyoto.

On the third floor of Gallery of Kyoto Traditional Arts & Crafts building, students or alumni of Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto (TASK) take turns to demonstrate what they have been learning at school. 

When I visited the gallery, Ms Takako Nagasu was sitting cross-legged.  Her samue jacket looked comfortable.  On the right side of her laps were several wood carving knives with different shapes of tips.  On her left side were photos of wooden statues.  She was working on something, but when I approached her, her hands stopped and she greeted me with a warm smile. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’m carving a small buddha statue.”
“Is this what you do for a living?” 
“Yes, I learned Buddhist sculpture in college, and now I usually teach there.  Today I’m here demonstrating how these statues are made.”

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

This statue that she made for her graduation exhibition won first prize in 2016.  The Buddha statue is made of a single piece of wood (except for what he holds in his hands), the aureole of a separate piece, and the platform of another.

Carving Buddhist sculptures requires not only skills but also a wealth of knowledge of history.  Ms. Nagasu told me that one of her highlights during her college days was studying the details of Japan’s Buddhist art history. 

Her work is not merely a copy of old statues, however.  Based upon her knowledge, her understanding, and her interpretation, a new Buddhist sculpture is born.

Not only watch the students’ work, but you can also ask any question regarding his/her work.  The more you learn about the detailed process of how things are created, and how much precision and attention are devoted to creating the work of art, the more you appreciate their work.

Gallery of Kyoto Traditional Arts & Crafts is open to the public from 10 am – 5 pm except for Tuesday and Wednesday.  I highly recommend visiting this place if you would like to enjoy a richer, deeper experience in Kyoto.

“In the Beginning, Woman Was the Sun”

A 20th-century feminist in Japan declared

Photo:
Amaterasu cave – large – 1856. 19th century Japan. Public domain image.

March is “Women’s History Month” in the US.  Several major institutions join in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance, and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.

I would like to take this opportunity to learn more about women in history, especially in Japan. Contrary to what is commonly understood, I sense that women in Japan once enjoyed much more freedom, equality, and even power than modern day.   

Hiratsuka Raicho 平塚雷鳥 (1886 – 1971) is well-known as the founder of Japan’s first all-women literary magazine, Seitō (青鞜, literally Bluestocking).  The opening of the first issue of Seito was also a very famous line, “In the Beginning, Woman Was the Sun .（元始、女性は太陽であった）”

When Raicho wrote this statement in 1911, women in Japan didn’t have voting right.  Much stricter social norm was imposed upon women than on men. Starting a magazine company run by all women must have been epoch making.

What is more intriguing for me, however, is her declaration.  She reminded us of what the Japanese took for granted, that is, in Japanese mythology, the sun was a goddess, not a god. 

Ancient Japanese people paid pretty impressive respect to women, don’t you think?

This Little Tea Caddy Was Worth The Whole State

How samurais utilized tea utensils during the civil war in 16th-century Japan

A tea caddy: Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

No, not this one in the photo above. (I use this for my everyday practice.)  The real tea caddy in this story is now housed in Seikado Bunko Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan.  You can see the photo on their website.   

The tea caddy is small enough to hold in a palm. What’s a big deal about this tiny object, you might say.  Well, it was really a big deal to possess it in the 16th– century Japan.

Known as “Tsukumo-nasu,” this eggplant-shaped tea caddy was made in the Southern Son-Yuan dynasty in China, 12th – 13th century. 

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu 足利義満(1358-1408), the 3rd shogun who built the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, used to own it. His grandson Ashikaga Yoshimasa足利義政 (1436-1490), the 8th shogun, gave it to one of his subordinates Yamana Masatoyo 山名政豊. One story says that Masatoyo was Yoshimasa’s lover.

It is said that Murata Juko 村田珠光 (1422 – 1503), the person who introduced the “wabi” concept to the tea ceremony, purchased this tea caddy from Yamana Masatoyo.

It is unknown how this tea caddy ended up in the hands of Matsunaga Hisahide 松永久秀 (1508 – 1577), a warlord who was ruling the state of Yamato. 

When confronted by Oda Nobunaga 織田信長 (1534 – 1382), a powerful warlord who later became the first unifier of Japan, Hisahide presented this tea caddy as a gift to Nobunaga.

By giving up a little tea caddy, Hisahide saved both his own life and the state he ruled. 

Was Oda Nobunaga crazy to forgo the opportunity to grab the whole state in return for the little tea caddy?