- Art*
This exhibition of 12 places, in watercolours and words, offers a glimpse of Japan at the end of the 19th Century when, after an abrupt exit from 300 years of isolation and feudalism, the country was in the throws of westernization. Japan’s doors were once again open to foreigners and Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), not yet the acclaimed short story writer, novelist and poet he was to become, chose to visit the country in 1889 on his way back to Britain after 7 years as a journalist in India, the country of his birth. Three years later he returned to Japan on his honeymoon. On both visits, which totaled 3 months in all, he wrote enthusiastically about what he experienced. The texts on view are taken from Kipling's "From Sea to Sea" and "Letters of Travel." The landscapes are painted from archival photographs of the places described. The exhibition will be on view in the teahouse of the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden during the month of July.