Mr. S. H /  Mr. F.W /  Mr. L.R /  Mrs. B.S /  Mr. H.S /  Miss S. P /  Mr. P.T /  Miss K. T /  Miss M. H / 


The cover of the booklet volume 9    Foreword

  The models in this book are friends from work whom I asked to pose for a quarter hour at lunch time. A lot of thanks goes to them for their time and interesting essays. This booklet is the nineth volume in my series. I hope it serves as a good memory of myself and Japan (my country), whose freedom and democracy I am struggling to improve.
  I put my sketch of a scene constructing the new building for our Research and Developement Center on the cover of this volume. The huge cone of mud and cement is a guard against an unexploded shell found under the ground. It must be one of the blind shells among those American Air Force dropped against the Nakajima Airplane Factory during World War II.
  There was a deep well at the center of the cone. At the bottom of the well they removed the igniter from the shell safely. This occasion reminded me Mr. Masafumi Akiyama's essay telling us about the air attacks he experienced. Peace is both important and wonderful, he wrote. I also will do my best to keep peace in Japan.
     December 1, 1997
     Michio Wakamatsu
Wakamatsu's portrait


Mr. S.H
Stefan Huen's portrait

If you read one of the previous volumes of Wakamatsu-san's portrait books, you will find out that I'm S.H, born in Berlin (Germany), and that I was a postdoc in NTT Musashino-shi. Wakamatsu-san sketched me when we met the first time. This was in November 1993. A lot has happened since then. I stayed in Japan for two years, and I really enjoyed that time. Then I went to Italy, where I'm now living and working.

In March 1997, I had the chance to return to Japan for a conference. After two years I was really eager to visit Japan and meet my friends again. I arrived in Narita, and bang - there it was again! Good old Japan hadn't changed much. The crowded Yamanote line, friendly, busy people in the trains, cherry blossom parties in Inokashira-koen in Musashino-shi, Studio Alta in Shinjuku in the evening, Sushi and Kirin beer, Shibuya at night. I felt as coming home from a trip to Europe. During that occasion, I also met Wakamatsu-san. We enjoyed the cherry blossom at the Sumida-gawa and in a nice garden close to his apparment. I enjoyed that visit to Japan very much, and I'm sure that it wasn't the last one. See you there next time!

Ciao ciao

S.H



Mr. F.W
Frank Winkler's portrait   Mr. L.R and Mr. F.W are Mrs. A G's friends, visited Japan this week and posed for my sketching at Mr. G's apartment house.

Followings are their common essay.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Hi, our names: F.W and L.R from Germany.
 This is our first visit to Japan.
 As we do have only a week our days are well organised with the interesting points of Tokyo and Kamakura.
 We are very much impressed by the majestic view of "Fuji-san".
 Japan is a country of fascinating extremes: in any way different to Germany and to where we have been before.
 We chose the right time to come to Japan seeing the wonderful cherry blossom participating in the Ohanami-party.
 We'll leave Japan full of beautiful impression and we can't wait to see the photographs.
 Finally we want to say thank you to our friends A and F.G who invited us and guided us excellently through Tokyo.

 F.W and L.R


Mr. L.R
Ludger Rotert's portrait


Mrs. B.S
Mrs. Brigitte Schaepers' portrait  My name is B.S. I am living in Datteln-Germany and I am visiting presently for three weeks my daughter and son in law who are living here in Tokyo for a period of two years. Japan was, in my early youth, the dreamland. The nice building with there curved roofs, the temples and pagoda, the tender and reserved women, the very different landscape and nature, all what I could read at this time fascinated me.
 I have found again some of these impressions, others not. Particularly in Kyoto I could find again the "old" Japan, while Tokyo signifies "stress" for me; the numerous people, the tight constructed buildings, the continuous neon-light advertising and the enormous "noise side scene".
 It was for me an interesting experience to have the possibility to compare both dream and reality. I think that, only by going to other nations, we can better learn to assess and comprehend country and people.
 My kind regards to all who have participated to make my stay in Japan so pleasant.

B.S
 


Mr. H.S
 Japan - still one year ago this land was for me very far away - spaciously but also in thoughts. It was also never planed to be a country for Holiday, since Japan is still, in Germany, from the point of view of tourism, a white patch on the world map.
 But now I am here for familiar reasons on visit for three weeks. I can gather impressions about this land, which are in part very pleasant, for those concerning the culture, landscape and population; in other part also very frightening for me, when I observe the life in the big cities with, as appear to me, its continuous hectic, without rest or silence, the all day, the all night, the all week - from Monday to Sunday - without pause for relaxation.
 The most striking for me was also, that I couldn't almost start anything with my English knowledge, in the absolute western orientated Japan - concerning its industrial and economical part, as opposed to all experiences, that I have made in foreign countries until now. Nevertheless I am impressed and happy to have come to know this country.
 A lot of thanks also to Mr. Wakamatsu and his family for their cordiality for us.

H.S


Miss S.P
Miss Sabine Poggel's portrait Hello,
I am S.P and stayed for two weeks in Japan.
I visited my friends A and F G. In Germany, where I come from, I work as an occupational therapist with handicapped children. This is how I learned to know Antje.
My greatest experience were fireworks at the Sumida River. The discipline of the people and all the women with the traditional Kimono was impressive.
Many things I have learned about Japan are strange for me. I think it takes a lot of time to understand this culture, more especially the question why it is not allowed to read at the open air swimming pool.
I want to thank A and F for trying to explain me the things they know.
Thank you for the beautiful time and for the very kind people I have met here.

S.P
 


Mr. P.T
Mr. Patrick Tsinany's portrait To be or not to be, a fundamental question raised by Shakespeare. I simply did not have the choice to be .... My parents created me and educated me so I became a man among the society we're living. They called this boy Patrick, a bit odd for his Chinese roots. Besides his family's name is even more weird Tsinany, where does it comes from? Well ... it has it's own story from the second largest island of planet earth.
  Since then, he decided to be different from the others. Instead of living a boring life, he decided to be. To be someone which everyone's envy, to do things which all dream of and to become the one which the whole world wants. All right, it's pretentious ... but these are my goals, and whatever the outcomes of my actions, I'll get result. Therefore, a new question arise ... What do you want to be?
My conscience knows, how about yours! Does it knows the strategies and exactly the outcomes ... If you really want to know who I am, just ASK, but beware... this time I dissimulate myself into the Japanese society's portrait.

Your Sin;


Miss K.T
Miss Kyoko Takahashi's portrait Hi, My name is K.T .

I like drawing pictures since I was a child. Though I was never told to be a good painter, my scribbles were often told attractive.
When I joined Mr. Wakamatsu's botanical painting circle, I was a little confused. Drawing and painting plants and fruits was the first experience for me, as I had drawn things more roughly before.
However I got unexpected praises for my painting of an apple at the botanical painting exhition. My favorite painter's words encouraged me greatly when he advised me to continue painting.
  I felt new a hope springing afresh in my breast, a desire to continue painting and thereby enjoy life.
As I like walking, I will carry a sketch book to draw whatever feel and to enjoy every moment of it. I must thank Mr. Wakamatsu for helping me discover this new hobby.
 


Miss M.H
Miss Makiko Hirose's portrait Hi, I am M.H.

I joined the lunch time botanical painting circle since this October.
As I am a person of coarse fiber, I feel some difficulty in sketching delicate plants and flowers. But I do enjoy the workshop, since I like not only admiring others' works but also painting by myself.

My first favorite painting was a work of Renoir where two girls are painted playing a piano. The painting was printed on a plastic sheet which I received as a free gift from a food shop "NAGATANIYEN" when I was in third or fourth grade of elementary school.

I am actually learning a theory of color design. Though, for the time being, I use the same colors of the objects and do not care about any combination of colors in botanical painting. In the future, I would like to represent various images with my color design. It is my dream to create a brand new color system which has never been advocated in the world. 

Mr. S. H /  Mr. F.W /  Mr. L.R /  Mrs. B.S /  Mr. H.S /  Miss S. P /  Mr. P.T /  Miss K. T /  Miss M. H / 

◆Portraits & Essays vol.8

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