NEW!
On October 4 through 18 last year, I introduced such Japanese cultures as kitsuke
(kimono-dressing), shodo (calligraphy), flower arrangement, etc. at the request of the Japan Center in Kiev.
I also visited the Japan Center on the coast of the Black Sea. Since it was the first
introduction of Japanese culture there, TV reporters besieged me with a barrage of questions and cameras. “I have never been to Japan,” said the head of the Japan Center, “As a boy, my grandfather was captured by the Japanese army during World War I, but he told me he had thanked the Japanese for their full treatment.” As he had been interested in Japan since then, he set up the Japan Center to know more about Japan.
More than ten years ago, I was asked by a student from Mexico to introduce Japanese culture to his family. This experience moved me to start introducing Japanese culture to Chile, Norway, and so forth through my friends and acquaintances, and I have been increasing my activities year by year. I would like to continue these activities of mine without forgetting the principle of “a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”