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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nTSUMUGU Project:<\/strong> Tell us what you thought about the \u201cCultural Exchanges of the Emperor and Empress: Sharing the Beauty of Japan\u201d exhibition preview you saw at the Tokyo National Museum in March this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister Counselor Carolyn Glassman<\/strong>: Even though the exhibition was really small, I think every element of it was very impressive because it was really diverse. The garments that the Emperor and the Empress wore were on display, and were just stunning. We talked about that the day after\u2026 some other folks in my office had seen them, too. We were all struck by the beauty of the textiles. I liked particularly the \u201cAlbum of The Tale of Genji,\u201d and Sakai Hoitsu\u2019s \u201cBirds and Flowers of the Twelve Months\u201d painting of plants and animals. It was all so, so beautiful\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can\u2019t talk for all Americans, because we\u2019re\nso diverse and different. I\u2019m not a cultural expert, nor a historian of\nJapanese art. I\u2019m just a diplomat that appreciates it. I have no expertise\nother than a little bit more on the filmmaking side. But what has struck me,\neven from the time I first arrived in Japan in March 1997 \u2013 or even going back\nto 1995, because one of the things diplomats get the advantage of is to do a\nclassical area studies which allows us to study everything from Japanese\nhistory and government to culture as well, and I particularly like the culture\npart \u2013 is Japan\u2019s connection with nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hate to generalize, but if I were, that\u2019s\nsomething throughout Japanese culture \u2013 whether it\u2019s in painting, sculpture, poetry\nor film \u2013 there is always some tie particularly with nature, the beauty of the\nworld around us, animals and people or every aspect of the living world. There\u2019s\nso much of that focus, that connection with nature. Of course, there artists\nwho focus on that in America as well \u2013 I\u2019m thinking of artists like Ansel Adams,\nwho took beautiful photos of the Grand Canyon and other beautiful places. But\nhere in Japan, it seems throughout the ages, whether it\u2019s traditional art which\nI saw at the exhibition, or more contemporary art which I love as well, there\nseems to always be compassion and concern about not just people, but where\npeople fit in the natural world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q.<\/strong> The Tsumugu Project deals with \u2018Japanese beauty,\u2019 Japanese art in particular. How would you define Japanese beauty?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A.<\/strong> I think it\u2019s so complex. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s easily definable in one or two words. To do that is not very fair. But if I were to pare things down, it gets down to connection with nature, which is to me uniquely Japanese. Whether it\u2019s family or at work, it\u2019s always a part of a bigger whole. Similarly in nature, it could be a beautiful bird, but it\u2019s depicted as part of a landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s kind of reflective of who we are as a people. Obviously, we\u2019re a much younger country. Obviously a lot of emphasis is put on the individual and on the freedom to do, or on independence. Of course we have focus on the world around us and nature and family, too, but I think there are a lot of differences there, or a different focus. America also has focus on space, but it\u2019s different. I\u2019m from Chicago and big cities are kind of a norm for me. In my younger days, I took a trip to visit a friend in Seattle and I decided to take the train, because I wanted to see the countryside. And what an incredible experience to see the vast landscapes of America! Places like Montana which is known for its big sky\u2026that size and sheer bigness, the grandeur!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, in 1972, when I was about 12\nyears old, my family drove the very famous Route 66 from Chicago to Los\nAngeles. I remember, still to this day, seeing again those vast landscapes like\nwhen arriving to Texas, or when we got to the Mojave Desert or Arizona and\nseeing those big expanses without people. As a city person, I\u2019ve never seen\nanything like that. I think about it as I\u2019m looking back. So there is a\nconnection there to the land and the beauty. It\u2019s there in the cities as well,\nbut just obviously in a different way, whether it\u2019s Tokyo, Chicago, New York, Los\nAngeles or Osaka, although it may be more vertical than horizontal. The\nexpansiveness is there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> Introduce us to some of the interesting places you have been to in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> Most of my time has been in Tokyo, but when I was studying Japanese here in Japan, I lived in Yokohama for a while. Yokohama is not far, but it\u2019s a very special place for me. I consider it my home away from home. Because of the intense nature of that year for me as I was studying, I was also looking for opportunities outside language study just to have my brain focus on other things. So I spent a lot of time in the art museum. Even to this day, when I\u2019m free on the weekends, I go back to Yokohama and I like to spend time in museums and galleries and so forth, as well as just walking the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At that time, about 20 years ago, I\nremember I was in Kyoto experiencing Japan in the traditional sense from all\nthe beauty that\u2019s there in that area. I think what struck me, too, were the\nbeautiful gardens. Not just the artwork at a shrine or a temple, but also the\nbeauty of the different gardens there, such as the one at Ryoanji temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I also, if I might add, do love film.\nGetting to appreciate Japanese film here is really nice. A couple of months\nago, I got to visit the Ghibli Museum (Mitaka, Tokyo) for the first time. I\u2019m a\nbig lover of Hayao Miyazaki. He was an incredible painter and artist outside of\nthe film itself, and his sketching and paintings are on display there. I was\nreally struck by his talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The museum also has so, so many of his\nbooks on nature. He really studied the anatomy of horses and dogs and has so\nmany books on plants as well. It was fascinating to see what a student of\nnature he was and how that was exhibited. That was a special surprise to me,\nbecause I didn\u2019t realize that was going to be in the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I only made one trip back to Okinawa since I\u2019ve returned to Japan. When I was here before, I was working on the cultural aspect of things. I had the distinct honor of putting together the Art in Embassies program brochure for then Ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley, which took about a year, and of documenting all the work there. As part of that, I got to know some artists in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also did an art repatriation project around 2000 or 2001. When they found a sculpture that the Marines had from the World War II days, they were repatriating it back to Okinawa. It was very special to me, because my father was here in the occupation. And to go back and be a part of this repatriation of the artwork with Ambassador Foley to give it back to Okinawa and getting to work with some of the folks in the museum in Naha was a very special moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> What do you think first-time visitors to Japan from the United States should see or experience during their stay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> Now that I\u2019m back here, I have visiting friends and family who are coming sometimes for the first time and so they ask me that. I take them to museums and then to try different food as part of culture. I try to give them the opportunity to try different things. And if time allows, to also not only experience Tokyo, but to go outside of Tokyo, to far-flung places or closer like Nikko, Kamakura or Hakone. The Hakone Open-Air Museum is tremendous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I would like for visitors to just as I\nenjoy is to appreciate the entirety of Japanese culture. Not just looking at a particular\nera or type of work but to see Japan in all its diversity. One of my memories\nwas going to Goshikinuma in Fukushima Prefecture and seeing the sheer beauty of\nthe ponds and the lakes there. Maybe as a former filmmaker, I\u2019m very visual.\nThen I remember my first visit to Tottori Prefecture and seeing the sand dunes\nthere. I thought, \u201cWow, this doesn\u2019t look like Japan at all!\u201d There is so much\ndiversity. The typical visitor won\u2019t know about that, so I think to the extent\nthat they can, it\u2019s important not to focus on only the things that the average\nAmerican would stereotypically think of Japan, but also on some of the hidden\ngems right here in Tokyo or some points beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, what I sometimes do, I would get\non the subway or the bus and just go! I don\u2019t have a clear destination in mind.\nI don\u2019t get to do this all the time with my schedule, but I will literally go. I\nhave other friends who do this too. I just get off at a stop and just explore\nwithout having a specific agenda in mind. No matter where I go, I will always\ndiscover something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Q<\/strong>. Japan has moved on from Heisei to Reiwa. Give us your thoughts on the transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A.<\/strong> I think it\u2019s really exciting. There is a lot of hope now. I thought it was very interesting, although I didn\u2019t understand it right away. I had to read the stories and get the explanations as it was forthcoming. Because we\u2019re talking about culture, the use of Reiwa and the tie-in to the oldest poetry in Japan (Manyoshu or Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves), as opposed to the tie-in to Chinese literature, was particularly special. The overall meaning of all this and the hopefulness and the time right now with the Olympics coming again to Tokyo and Japan internationalizing in so many ways, I think it\u2019s exciting. I really do. So just like many others, I\u2019m looking ahead at the many opportunities we have to bring the United States and Japan even closer together. I\u2019m really excited about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q.<\/strong> What is the U.S. Embassy doing to bring the two countries closer together? <\/p>\n\n\n\n A.<\/strong> \u201cGo for Gold.\u201d It\u2019s an Olympics-related school outreach initiative we started in June 2018, and it\u2019s ongoing. Our whole team is very focused on connecting with the younger generation because that\u2019s where I think we can do more. There has been a lot over the course of so many years to tie our generation together. For example, the New Emperor is the same age as me, so even though we don\u2019t know each other, I feel a special connection. We\u2019re trying to do what we can to create greater, stronger bonds and awareness both ways, between the young people of the United States and Japan. We have with the Tokyo Board of Education established a very special relationship. The initiative was launched by (former) Ambassador Bill Haggerty and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike. We\u2019re going into schools all over, about 340 schools so far. Today, actually, we have a young fellow here from American University for the summer. She was out with four year olds and five year olds under the Go for Gold banner. We have also been bringing in Olympic athletes. Swimmer Katie Ledecky was here and so was the U.S.A. men\u2019s gymnastics team. We did programs with Major League Baseball. We did an outreach program with kids from the Setagaya Ward to create more opportunities for young people in Japan to connect with America and we\u2019re going to continue growing this program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Culture or education or any other sector, these young people are going to be the future leaders. It\u2019s so important that we continue to connect with each other and share on so many fronts, because without that, we could potentially lose that connection later. I think it\u2019s critical for both of our countries to not only maintain, but to actually strengthen friendships and people-to-people bonds. So this program, I\u2019m particularly proud of because it does just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n (The interview was conducted by Tsumugu Project\u2019s Kazuki Matsuura)\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TSUMUGU Project Minister Counselor Carolyn Glassman of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo is another one of the diploma […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":2051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[407],"tags":[81,142,144,116,140,143,141],"class_list":["post-2026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","tag-diplomatic_art_diary","tag-ghibli","tag-reiwa","tag-tale_of_genji","tag-tokyo_olympics","tag-u-s-_embassy","tag-yokohama"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/a951c4c99256bdb2a331ab5ca3c2ab08-1.jpg\")
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