Miho Yamagishi (ICU ’14) was in the U.S for one year through ICU’s exchange program with Rutgers University. As part of her internship at the Japan ICU Foundation, Miho interviewed Mr. Tsuyuki (ICU ’57) about his life in New York and about his time at ICU. Since they both have strong interests in art and design and conducted the interview inside the Modern Museum of Art.

PART I: MR. TSUYUKI’S ROLE IN CREATING THE JICUF HONKO
(Mr. Tsuyuki : T   Yamagishi : Y)

Y: You are the creator of the honko (stamp) used in JICUF’s logo, why did you decide to create this?

T: The reason why I came up with this idea is… well to better explain that could you read what it has written on it to me?

Y: It says “The stamp of Japan International Christian University”.

T: Yes. However, JICUF is not the university itself. So before JICUF was using this stamp I had been talking to the staff of JICUF saying that this isn’t correct one to use as JICUF logo. I said “This is for university, not for the foundation”. But, at that time they did not quite understand what I was trying to say. After I retired and had time to myself and was able pursue my hobby for carving stamps or Tenkoku (which use the traditional shape of Japanese and Chinese characters), I wanted to suggest a new one.

Y: Did you start this as only a hobby?

T: Yes, but for this seal I was inspired by an award certificate I received from ICU in the past. There were several stamps on it and I used the stamp that represented ICU on the certificate as a model for the stamp that I created for the Japan ICU Foundation.

Y: I see. I cannot recall ever having seen ICU’s official stamps.

T: It is only used for special ceremonies usually, but it is also on all certificates presented at the graduation ceremony.

Y: I will see them in just a few months then!

T: If you graduate (laughs)! Anyway, if you look at the seal, you can see that I made this seal from a cherry blossom tree. It is from a Yae-zakura, a one of a kind of cherry blossom tree between my and my neighbor’s house. One day, the gardener told us that he was going to cut it down because it was dying. My family always did Oahanami (Cherry blossom viewing) under this tree, so I asked him if I could take part of the tree for sentimental purposes.

I kept the part of the tree outside of my house for about 30 years, but unfortunately parts of it died. Thankfully, some of it was salvageable and I used part of that to make the stamp. When I went to hand in the article I wrote for the JICUF (A new leaf：JICUF News Letter, Fall 2007 Issue p8) I also showed the council of ICU the stamp. The director at the time was Yasuyuki Owada, and when I showed it to him he told me that he thought it was great and would fit the JICUF well. When first making the stamp I thought it might be good if I put the alphabet words of “JICUF.” There are 11 characters for JICUF in Kanji (Chinese character), which means one of the spaces left as a blank in the box. In addition, I thought it would be interesting to put alphabet in traditional stamps because I have never seen a stamp like that and it would be very unique.

Y: That is true; I’ve never seen a stamp like that. Did it take a long time for you to carve this?

T: Yes. Furthermore, there are many strokes for the Kanji, which made it difficult. But in some way, the alphabet characters were also difficult. I am glad with the outcome of what I finally carved, which is mixed of traditional characters and the alphabet.

 Part 2: Going to US after ICU graduation

T: After I graduated ICU in 1957, I came straight to U.S and went to another university. At ICU, I was a physics major in the Natural Sciences department but wanted to pursue my interest in the fine arts in America. By chance one day, I found the article in the newspaper that one person from Japan had done research in the market of industrial design in America and then returned to Japan. At that time there was no such thing like “industrial design” in Japan. It stirred my interest and I decided to pursue that. I became so interested in it because I can combine both science and art since it’s industrial, which is field of physics and design, which is field of art.

The next task was finding a school where I can study this topic. At this time there were not many brochures for Universities that I had access to, and I could find none that had any courses in Industrial Design. Thankfully, I found out that there were several brochures for different universities located in America at the GI Intercultural Center in Yokohama. The purpose of those being for Americans that want to go to university after they have served their military service. I went there and looked through every brochure. I found three universities based in New York, Tampa and Chicago that have a department for industrial design, so I applied. I got accepted into all three of them. I decided to go to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, which is an art school, very different from ICU.

Y: Even though ICU is a liberal arts university, we still do not have practical arts classes. My friends and I always wished we had been able to take an art class.

T: At ICU I belonged to the photography club, art club and mountain climbing club. I also tried oil painting. But that was the only experience I had of doing “art”. However, there was a carpenter that graduated from ICU.

 

Y: Was that a major at ICU?

T: Yes, this is the person who makes furniture for the dorms for students and for the houses of the teachers. Before that there were hardly any Western furniture, such as four-post bed, in Japan. I met the carpenter and I became friends with him and he shared his work with me, and I like that kind of stuff so it was interesting. One day, I was asked by him to design the furniture for the new girls dorm that was going to be built soon. I made several drawing sheets for that. I saved those sheets and put it as portfolio to send to these new universities. There are people who are in art school and had been doing art since they were high school students. On the other hand for me, I don’t have art background since I am physics major.

Y: Even so, isn’t there is a relationship between physics and art?

T: Well yes, but if you ask around the Natural Sciences department, there are students who have had no other experience in studying anything except for mathematics. For example, in mechanical dynamics it is necessary to know at if you apply pressure on something how it get stressed, this has to do with the principle of leverage when we design the things. I remember that I taught people about this part of physics, that if you do something one-way, another thing would happen after. After this, I went to Pratt Institute for four years. Before I went to Pratt, I belonged to a Language Institute for one year to learn English. So in total, I had been a student for nine years, I spent five years in Musashino and four years in U.S.

Y: How do you feel about being a student for so long?

T: If you use program such as an exchange program, most of the credit that you have compiled can transfer to your other university. But there is no system like this for transferring. So, when I went to Pratt, I had to take basic and general education. I would negotiate with the department staff about this, and then finally I could take other courses that were in my interests more. I finished my degree in about three years and started to take graduate classes. After that, my daughter was born.

Y: Did you meet your wife during your university years in America?

T: I met her in ICU. After that I had to earn money to support my family so, I got a job. Since that time, I have been a designer for 40 years in New York. The design field is a small world.

Y: What do you mean by that?

T: There are tons of advertising companies and interior companies in New York City. And of course, people are there who are from art and design school. America is different from Japan that there is hardly a permanent job so, people can move from company to company. I did this a lot. So, gradually, I came to know where people were, who they were, and who is in charge of the big jobs.

Y: So you were able to make relationships on a deep level.

T: Yes. That is always important, and that is the interesting thing about it.

T: While I was in Pratt institute, JICUF was already established.

Y: I did not know that JICUF had that long of a history.

T: JICUF is older than ICU; it was there before ICU was built. It was originally created to fundraise for the actual building of ICU. They were able to raise a lot of money in America and that is why ICU could buy such a large piece of land in Mitaka.

I went to Pratt Institute while I was in America but there is no changing the fact that I graduated from ICU. So whenever JICUF hosted an event or did something, I was always invited and was able to participate. For example, there was a year gathering of women’s Christian group. I went there with other students from ICU and listened to them speak. We were the product of their donations.

Since then, I have always had a connection with ICU. My wife graduated from a university in Ohio and did an exchange year at ICU. After that she graduated from Brooklyn College to be a doctor. She influenced me to be more part of the American alumni institute that has a very strong connection with its members. I felt “I have to do something for ICU!” and holding onto this thought I started to make a newsletter for ICU with Mr. Owada, who is friend of mine and also graduated ICU at the same time I did.

Y: How did you know what ICU students lived in New York?

T: Because JICUF is there, and in some way, we are all close friends with the JICUF members. There was a record of the people that live in New York that were ICU students in JICUF’s database and they helped connect us. We also wrote to ask people to let us know if someone who was an ICU student lives around New York at the bottom of the newsletter in case we missed anyone. In that newsletter, I wrote what happened to ICU or around New York and who married each other, things of that sort.

We also did fundraising activities because we needed the stencil to copy letters and the expense of paper. Back then we also asked for a $12 donation as dues from the [early] ICU alumni. We didn’t have that much money to work with.

Y: How did you manage the school tuition, fees, and other expenses after your graduation?

T: I received a scholarship from Pratt Institute, but unfortunately it was not enough, so I got a job cleaning the floors. I was very happy to earn $5 a week and I worked very hard. People used to smoke in the classroom back then and I don’t like smoking. I felt like a little angry boy as I swept up the ashes with a broom. By the way, this is the Christmas card from 1959.

Y: Did you use oil ink?

T: Yes, I used it by mistake.

Y: Don’t you have to leave that ink to dry for about a week?

T: Yes, you do! So, I lined up all the cards I made in the living room to dry, it took up the whole room. I talked with my wife about that the other day and she says she still remembers and she laughed so hard just as if it happened yesterday. This is the design from the Alumni Association that I designed in ’81. I designed the logo, however it didn’t get any official recognition from ICU, I was pretty upset by that.

Y: That’s a shame, it looks very official.

T: I was very sad. They did that because they had to unify all of the alumni under one Alumni Association, and could not do that with different labels. This is the invitation to the 50th anniversary of ICU. Again, when these things happened, students who graduated from ICU were invited there came to view the service. There were many alumni at that ceremony.

Y: Do you know how many were in the first class from ICU?

T: About 150 to 160 people.

Y: There must have been a lot of familiar faces then!

T: Yes. Especially the first year of the English group that always got together and studied hard every day. Also the physical education class – we played touch football on the flat ground in front of the main building before Bakayama was made there.
-Third: Life in New York, Recent connection with ICU

Y: I am impressed that a lot of people support ICU in U.S.

T: If it were not for the older people who graduated ICU telling their stories then no one would really know about it. I hope you will continue to interview other people as well – I think it will be interesting.

Y: How was your experience living in New York?

T: I have been living around New York for 57 years and I have lived in Scarlet from the 60s. I I have witnessed a big change in New York since then!

Y: Was it much different from now?

T: It was horrible at one point. When I came here, it was relatively safe and the subway ran all night. A Japanese company opened a show room on 5th avenue and I worked for them. I started work after the room closed at 6:00 pm and work would end around 10 or 11 pm. I used to live inBrooklyn so I went to Chinatown to eat dinner after work was over and I didn’t feel like I had to be cautious. But during the Vietnam War, the use of drugs became more frequent. I think the purpose of the war was unclear and both sides did not know why they were fighting each other.

The other side sold a lot of drugs to young people in the U.S. military and when they returned to New York it became a dangerous place. The addictiveness of drugs can make people do bad things to make money to get more drugs. When people walk on the street, we were always scared we would be attacked. I could not walk near the alley on the side of the library on 42nd street. I could not wear shoulder bag because people might drag me by it into the alley. I tried to walk the edge between the cars and the street. Looking down at a map was never good. It was a hard time.

Y: When did your situation become better?

T: For me, around late 70s or 80s after the war is over. I used to work as a manager for a Japanese glassware company which opened near 5th avenue. It was near 55th street and it was a really good location. People of ICU started to gather around here again in the 80s when NYC was becoming better.

Y: Have you been to Japan recently?

T: I went to the alumni party last year. I am thinking about going this year as well. By the way, this is the essay Professor Yuasa Hachiro wrote and gave us. I think it is meaningful so I have kept it. I have two copies so I will give one to you. Please read it.

Y: Thank you!

T: Next time I go to ICU I want to see the monument made for the gardener of ICU. If I can go to Japan in a year’s time, I am also thinking about helping to clean the garden.

Y: Cleaning the garden! That is an interesting wish. My art history professor once told us that there are various kind of trees at ICU. Specially, this is very rare type in Tokyo that is only at ICU and it has unique ecology. However, people did not care about this forest until recently, so he said that it would need to be researched and treated with care.

Y: Why did your wife decide to study abroad?

T: She was born in China; her parents were on a missionary medical mission. She and her family were chased by the Japanese Army in World War II and she barely survived. From China her family went in a war plane over the Himalayas to India. In 1944, they went by US naval ship from Bombay, India to Boston, Massachusetts  via Australia and the Panama Canal. When she was older she thought she wanted to go to study at a Chinese University, but because of the Communist party, China closed its borders. After that she went to ICU.

Y: That’s very dramatic. Does your wife speak English?

T: Yes. By the way, my friend was born in Japan and then he went to America. He married a Japanese American and they speak Japanese at home, but he said that his wife speaks English. When my friend was in his 70s he got sick and I went to visit him. When I got there his kids were telling me that they could not understand what their father was saying. I asked him what he was saying and he was speaking Japanese, but because he was mumbling his wife had to listen and tell people what he was saying, at that point he said out loud “I’m tired of English!” (laughs).

His daughters only spoke broken Japanese so it was hard for them. The same goes for me too, when I feel very tired or in times of panic I revert back to Japanese, so I explained to them what was happening with their father. I think that would happen to me though, if I ever got sick and went to the Brooklyn clinic to see a doctor, I think I would only be able to say “ouch!” in Japanese.

T: Have you ever read ICU Professor Yuasa’s book?

 

For Christmas entertainment, each section was asked to present something.Section C performed “The Merchant of Venice”.

Y: No, I haven’t

T: It is interesting to read. Perhaps, it is in ICU’s library. He wrote about how he became ICU’s director and about his time working on a farm. By the way, when I went to ICU alumni party at the ICU cafeteria, my wife and I were celebrated for our Silver Wedding Anniversary (25 years)! We called a sushi chef in Mitaka and ate there. I put the photos on my website so I will give you the link later. Also, every photo I took, for example at the alumni gathering or during my life at ICU is put on my website. If you look at the photos you will see what I am talking about. At ICU, I lived in second men’s dorm for a little while.

Y: That’s one of the oldest dorms!

T: It was built right before I graduated. Fourth year students were given the priority to live there before graduation. I was there for about half a year. I don’t think that it is there anymore.

Y: It is actually. I live in a dorm on campus that is much like an apartment. It

does not have the homey feel of the dorm. I share living room and kitchen with four other international students so it is fun. But sometimes it’s frustrating because there is no place to sit and be social as a group.

T: The atmosphere like second men’s dorm was great, you can see that all the shoes are around entrance or you can see us drinking together in the social space, let’s say the “feeling of living together” ran deep there.

Y: Thank you for your time today to talk with me.