Three Years in Sendai, Japan. -2

The Japanese people and culture has always been my fascination and my art i dare say is very much influenced by this. Being able to spend some time in Japan had been a boon to me and my family as my late wife who had spent seven year prior to our trip in japan can red and write Japanese and as a matter of fact was a qualified Japanese language teacher aside from her ESL qualification. If I had been given the choice between spending time in Italy or in Japan as an artist in residence, I would have chosen the later. Katsushita Hokusai is one of my spiritual Art Masters and Rembrandt is his counterpart from the West. 

My children, Karim and Marissa benefit most from this stay in Japan as they were brought up for three years of their lives in one of the best Japanese Kindergartden schools that practices the Rudolf Steiner method  in Sendai. Initially they were lost and frightened as they could not understand a word that was spoken, but once they got over the hump it was  harder to keep them home than to send them to school. They started schooling in the best possible place one can imagine and the three years spent at the Mukaiyama YoChien was an experience not like any other even for me.

The two best family friends that we had while living in the Yasoen area of Sendai were Reichgiro san  and Mayumi Isaka San both living in the neighborhood.of the Miyagi Prefecture. Reichiro San was had a Laundromat  at the 'top of the hill from where we were living and he was also a Haiku Artist who also makes and paints kites in the old traditional Japanese style..  During my stay in Sendai, Reichiro San was one of the most helpful and supportive friend i had.  We had an art show together in downtown Sendai which I felt made him ver please that his works were being exhibited even if it was alongside mine. He wrote a few caligraphic haiku writings for me in my works and sketchbooks too..
 The artwork seen in the picture was one of my Monoprint which I called 'Tsunami" and this was way back in 1996 or 7 and the work is now in Dubai property of my eldest son, The Pilot. Had I known that a mega Tsunami would later devastate parts of the coastal areas of Sendai I would not have  used the title Tsunami.

Reichiro San and i had  visitor from the United States whose wife was teaching in Sendai too, he was a down to earth home grown kind of guy easy to be with.  We had quite a few visitors like this and it was nice to be able to exchange cultures and understanding. Reichiro San enjoyed the fact that he was aable to practice his Queen's English.

 

The Mukaiyama Yochien where my children spent three of their childhood years was  always bustling with activities and I was very much involved as i was pretty much the designated home maker as my wife was very busy teaching all over Japan. This was where i got to know the Japanese housewives up close and personal as most were eager to try their English out on me. Here i got to know what the word Gaijin meant especially from the children who were less cautious with their expressions... 

My act of sketching or drawing in their presence was the ice breaker towards communication as most Japanese Ladies were an artist at heart. As an artist one feels special and was treated as such. While living in Japan I found that what I had imagine as faar as the culture goes was mostly true, the Japanese people were mostly very self absorbing and maticuluous when it comes to work especially creative endeavors.

The school caters to the higher income bracket and every occasion that presents itself and calls for  a family picture saw an all out dress code. Parents would try to  outdo one another in how elegantly they dressed  and  the children were made to look like overdressed dolls. 

My free time was mostly spent at the Miyagi Museum of  Fine Arts where they had 'An Open Studio Policy" that encourages  the Sendai area artists to do their work here for free of charge. I was most productive here and I felt very much at home doing my art among the Japanese artists.

Being able to draw and paint had its perks when it comes to getting places and meeting people.