1988: Chushingura

November 1984
Kyoto

Dear Friends:

The late November weather has been colder than usual with strong winds producing a penetrating chill. Tonight, I snuggle under my kotatsu (a low table with electric heater and a blanket that covers the lower half of the body) and listen to Mozart while I write some final thoughts before leaving Japan this year. I’m still on a high from my recent solo show which was on view at the Fuji Gallery in Osaka for a week from November 21. The work was quite different this year (see enclosed announcement card) and it provoked many questions. comments and discussion from visitors to the show. I spent 4 or 5 hours at the gallery each day, as is customary here in Japan where shows are of short duration, allowing me to see friends and meet a number of new and interesting artists and other visitors. It was really a rewarding experience.

As the work this year is less abstract. more documentary, it elicited more response. I completed 16 panels for the show which comfortably fit into the Fuji space. All were of similar size and included one diptych and one triptych. They were developed from a photo collage approach and utilized photographs from the U. S., Japan and, for one work, Hong Kong. Several, like the announcement card, were composed of various photos of a single building. Others were ‘scapes composed of several images. Most works included a ubiquitous figure with an umbrella or a group with umbrellas — echoes of the rainy season when the ideas were germinating. All works were on medium to dark value grounds with grids and all images were applied in black silver leaf. The works were floated off slightly larger panels covered in dark indigo colored silk and without plastic frames. The opening party on November 21 was very well attended by friends from Kyoto, Osaka and the surrounding area. Gifts of flowers, foods and wines piled up in the back room. The most numerous gift was French Beaujolais Nouveau flown in a few days earlier to launch the new wine season. This was a rather BIG event in Japan this year. Throughout the week visitors dropped in from Nagoya and Tokyo as well. It’s always great to see many friends again before I leave, thus the show provides a meaningful number of conclusions to my time here.

Th schedule of work after return from my short trip to Hong Kong and Tokyo in September allowed for few opportunities for diversion here in Kyoto or further afield. I did see exhibitions of work by Georgia O’Keefe and Sam Francis, a show of Tibetan Art, paintings of Serge Poliakoff and another dealing with Dada and Constructivism. I was able to squeeze in several performance events as well. On the date of the full moon in September several friends attended an outdoor solo “Su-Percussion” event at a temple in Nara. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy night in Nara, so there was no moon there. Upon return to Kyoto at midnight I was able to enjoy the moon in full glory in my neighborhood park. In November I was finally able to see a play directed by the famous Yukio Ninagawa. He staged “Chushingura”, the heroic tale of the 47 samurai, at a new theatre in Kobe. The set was a graveyard with hundreds of flickering candles, that was transformed frequently to accommodate the action of the play, set in the Edo Period. There was a curious chorus of old women in contemporary dress who reacted to the action on stage — throughout the play.

Two events have been in the news daily since September: the Emperor’s illness and the Recruit Stock Scandal. Early on the public response to the Emperor’s condition was quite impressive with several hundred thousand people signing get well registers and many praying at the palace gates. Many social engagements. festivals and other events were cancelled out of respect. This reaction then generated much discussion about the Emperor System, his role in the war, the interpretation of the post-war constitution, etc.

The Recruit Scandal continues to unfold/unwind daily. Many influential people were offered stock in a Recruit Co. subsidiary and loans to buy the stocks before the sale went public. Consequently, many people made big profits. Many politicians (their secretaries or wives!?) were involved and more news comes to light each day. Meanwhile. the main effort of the Takeshita Government, tax reform, is held up endlessly in the Diet or pushed through quickly (LPD has a big majority, but consensus is the rule here) with more security guards on the Diet floor than legislators to prevent a riot. Politics here, especially the Takeshita brand, is more obscure and behind-closed-doors than most dealings in Japan, which are never direct. Takeshita is so obtuse in communication it’s said even his secretaries often don’t know what he is talking about.

A brief review of the lighter side of life in Japan: The beer companies have decided that “dry” will not do for the colder weather, so they have come up with new campaigns. One is pushing “Winter Story”, and another has introduced “On the Rocks” because the alcohol content is so high. A recent poll asked people here what they do in their free time: 76% cited reading books, 63% watched sports on TV. This was followed by napping, listening to music, and drinking at home. The article ended with the following bombshell: “Thirty-one percent said they place a flowerpot in the bathroom when taking a bath.” (My informal follow-up has yet to reveal anyone who has even heard of such folly.)

I will soon be leaving for warmer and colder climes. Hawaii will be my first stop with a few days with friends in the Honolulu area and then on to the Big Island for a first visit there. I will stay with Masa Honda, a UGA grad who is teaching at the UH-Hilo campus. I’ll give a lecture there and tour the volcanos, black sand beaches and tropical paradise. By mid-December I will be in Wisconsin with my mother where I hope for a tiny, but beautiful blizzard again this year. After trudging through the snow, I will whisk Mother off with me to Athens for a couple of months. We’ll be joined for the holidays by Jeanne, Page and Babak, Page’s high school friend and frequent visitor to Athens.

Once back home there will be much to catch up on, friends to see and the holidays to enjoy. As I prepare to return to the US and Athens for the JOY of the holiday season, I send my best and warmest wishes –Yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!