2020/10/6

Mr. Shigeru Tsutsumi, Deputy Mayor of Maizuru City, and Ms. Miharu Yamashita, Director of the Maizuru Repatriation Memorial Museum, visited KUFS on Monday, September 28th. The guests were greeted by Dr. Yoshikazu Morita, Chancellor and Chair of the Board of Governors, President Takeshi Matsuda, and Professor Hiroshi Minami, Director of University Museum of Cultures. Ideas and opinions were exchanged regarding a memorial exhibition that features postwar repatriates to be held at the University Museum of Cultures this December.

Ties between KUFS and Maizuru City began when the late Professor Emeritus Craig Smith became a member of the panel of experts on the application for Maizuru City’s inclusion in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2015. Professor Emeritus Smith translated the recommendation, titled “Return to Maizuru Port—Documents Related to Internment and Repatriation Experiences of Japanese (1945–1956)”.
The meeting went well and at one point the conversation reached a high point over an old hit song called Ganpeki no haha (Mother at the Wharf) which is set at Maizuru, the port of entry for postwar repatriates. “We hope that our relationship provides an opportunity for KUFS students to learn about peace,” said Deputy Mayor Tsutsumi, to which Dr. Morita responded, “We hold the city of Maizuru very dear to our hearts, and we hope to continue with our cooperation however we can,” to promise further collaborative activities in the future.

The meeting was followed by Director Minami’s tour around the University Museum of Cultures, the venue for the upcoming memorial exhibition. By the end, the parties concerned were all on the same page about creating spaces for future exchanges between Kyoto and Maizuru.

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