Taking the World Art World - A Report from the Circuit
Takami Sakurai
It has been more than a year since I came to France with the cartoonish title of "Taking
over the World Art Scene. I have made many promises in Japan. I came to France afterdiscussions with a friend in San Francisco, Los Angeles. Let me explain the situation.
In 1972, I was in the "konnyaku commune" in San Francisco, working with a group ofpeople on a mural commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Art, which was to beerected in the Japanese district. At that time, Mr. Yasunao Tone came from Japan. He hadjust done some chronological work for "Bijutsu Techo" and had an overall perspective, so
he gave me a lot of advice and we had a wide range of discussions. I admire San Fransicoand have been involved in San Francisco for many years, and am a beatnik admirer. So,
first, we had the critic Mr. Tone as a lecturer and studied Foucault's "Introduction toLinguistics" with his friends, and later we had a book reading session on Mr. Tone's bookas well.
During that time, we lived together in the same house for about six months, listening,discussing, and arguing. In conclusion, to skip over the progress, I was told by everyone,"You can't stay in the same situation so long," and I was forced to take on new
responsibilities and new assignments since the "Kyushu-Ha" project.
Now, then, what will happen next? How will it be handled? Will tactics solve the problem? Is
it a reorganization? Is it a revolution in the art world? No, revolution is no longer enough!
There was much discussion about whether I should be a salesman or not, but I won't go
into that here because it would be too long. After all, the point of "Paris" was absolutely
necessary, and in the meantime, it was decided that all was not well with this place. I had
been so absorbed in the commune life in San Fransisco that I had never thought of living inFrance, even in my dreams....
When I arrived in Paris, I was surprised to find that there were about a hundred Japaneseartists who were making a living as artists. Of course, they are making art and selling it inFrance to feed their wives and children. The number of people living in the city was like adream. It was true that if they could eat, I felt like "I'll try it, too.
I have one recollection about this. When I went to the U.S. for the first time about 11 yearsago, Honda and Suzuki motorcycles were selling very well, and Japanese living in the U.S.
were also saying that their shoulders were getting wider. However, an American said,"Japanese are indeed good at small and elaborate things such as motorcycles, cameras,and watches, as well as at imitating others.だが、Automobiles, which requirecomprehensive industrial strength, cannot be made in Japan. If a screw is lost in aJapanese automobile, a different kind of screw can be used in time. This means that if youscrew in a Japanese-made screw, the screw threads will be broken and you can make it intime because the base metal is soft. In this way, American automobiles are still strong.
However, what do you think? When I traveled around the U.S. by bus a couple of years
ago, I was amazed at the number of Japanese Toyota and Datsun factories and billboards
that I saw. I was also surprised to see them in TV commercials. By that time, the tyranny ofgeneral trading companies had become a hot topic, and Japanese exports to the U.S.
began to face various problems, as you are aware. In spite of such a widespread
distribution of Japanese products in the U.S., only about 10 Japanese painters, at most,are able to make a living from their works alone. And I am talking about the entire U.S. as awhole. However, most of the avant-garde artists in the U.S. work as university teachers tomake a living. Capro, famous for his happenings, is also a university teacher As far as Iknow, there are about 20 Japanese teachers in the area. What does it mean that as manyas 100 artists are living in this small Parisian town with only their works to show? Clearly,
we are entering an era that is different from Fujita's time. On the other hand, not only
artists, but also many musicians are active in the art world. It seems as if the export of"artists" is growing along with the expansion of the Japanese economy.
Another thing is that in the world of painting, France does not have as many fads as Japanor the United States. It is very difficult to see trends in clothing and exhibitions, and after
living here for a year, I feel that the number of men with beards and jeans has increased
somewhat. In other words, they have a lot of initiative. Therefore, I understand now that I
live in France that it takes 10 years to complete a project, rather than one or two years.
What exactly are we trying to do in France? To do this I would have to explain a small
amount of what I have done in the past and what I wanted to do.

Our "Kyushu-Ha" loop originated in Kyushu. The group grew up watching the postwar riseand fall of the coal industry, including the Miike Coal Mine. As I wrote in the bulletin ofKyushu-Ha at the time, we were focusing on Bauhaus as a precursor to the contact
between industry and art. The Bauhaus was never completed, in part because it wasdestroyed by the rise of the Nazis. We thought we had to develop. I thought I had
discovered the interstitial issue of locality as the key to development and its elements. And
it's important that we integrate ourselves brilliantly with the community. At the time, thestruggle in Miike was a struggle for production, and the mass struggle was unimaginably
more raw than in the world of art. It was the Mexican Mural Movement that strongly gripped
us under such circumstances.そ It seemed to us that the Mexican Mural Movement had avery close connection with the Mexican community.こ The question arose as to what would
make us more closely connected to the local community. First of all, it is important to keep
in touch with one another. We decided to bring the open format of the "Yomiuri
Independents" into our "Kyushu Independents”.
By the way, my interest in the Mexican muralists was also inspired by the Beatnik
Movement, which I saw as an event along the same lines of social movements and culturalregionalism. So, I spent another 10 years or so living in San Francisco. During this period,
the world situation has gradually or suddenly changed, just as the beatniks have replaced
the hippies. The Cuban Revolution seems to have been the primary phenomenon. Nomatter how hard the tiny Cuba tried, it could not occupy North America in battle. Putanother way, Cuba can never dominate the United States. That Cuba won the war against
the U.S. (in part because of the Soviet Union's presence). It is the beginning of a different
kind of miracle that never existed before. Second, Vietnam. Exactly the same as Cuba,even the opponent was the same. And they fought far more fiercely and for a longer periodof time, and defeated the United States. The miracle was born, frightening the whole world.
The third was the so-called "oil shock," when the price of oil in the Middle East quadrupled
in a single fist. There are too many unknowns to draw any conclusions, but it is clear that it
was a near-miracle, unthinkable in the current economic climate. Another myth may be thedifference between the Chinese and Soviet views of communism. What is the meaning of
the world situation that allows such miracles to occur?
And furthermore, the problem of pollution in Japan, which has become the world's number
one, and the battle of Minamata. On a personal level, there is the interplay of sex between
the young and the old, the theory of the purpose of life, the fervent desire for another Bible,etc. It may sound strange, but these are strange phenomena that are, in a sense, artistic.
For example, I believe that the most important labor relations measures of a company areamong those that require the most artistic elements. In France, I am sometimes surprised
when I read Japanese newspapers. Especially the ads, the copy, the illustrations, and eventhe company name are art itself, with ironic implications. When I read the beautiful copy

that says a pollution company is protecting the blue sky, I wonder if copywriters have towrite lies to make a living, or if they work day and night to write such lies. It is clear that thecompanies think that art is the quickest way to hide the true nature of things. It is certainthat most art is controlled in this sense, but in any case, it seems certain that we, including
myself, do not understand the nature of things. In any case, understanding the nature ofthings will not help us. It's a lame story, but if I don't really want to die like this, what onearth should I do?
We will never be able to make the "power structure" do what we want. However, if we havetactics, a grasp of reality, and confidence in the future, we will be able to maintain ourindependence, as in Cuba and Vietnam. If we can do so, we must start preparing for thefuture. However, it is our suffering that we have to be used while being used. Applied art
has more of its suffering than pure frame art. However, the two must be partnered. With
this understanding in mind, I need to reflect on what I have done in France over the pastyear.
What is the "60's Exhibition" for us?
“More than 15 years have passed since the once-flowering Yomiuri Independents
Exhibition, and the results are starting to come in. We will provide a forum for critics, led by
Yusuke Nakahara, to systematically review the past, pulling out all the records andorganizing them into a historical review to determine what our constitution is and what ourfoundation is.” This is the story of the originator of the 60's exhibition. He is a brilliant
Independant and now a top leader in the world art world. The members of theindependents, including him, have become practically international. By dissecting thesource of this trend and examining the relationship between the significance of theindependents and ourselves, we can clarify the path forward for the avant-garde. In otherwords, I have the nurturing parents, the independents exhibition, from Paris, from NewYork, from San Francisco, from Los Angeles, to thank for growing up here and being
internationally active. I have heard several times that it is the independents consciousness
that is truly world class. The great exhibitions of the 1960s were then taken over byorganizers headed by Masunobu Yoshimura in Tokyo. However, when I heard this story
from someone in Paris who had raised Yomiuri Independant, I thought that it was almost
inextricably linked to the course of Japan's industrial development, and that the time period
was also around the same time. It is true that, whether the writer is aware of it or not, he
has unexpectedly taken on the character of a prophet of the times. If this is the case, and if
the scandalous and somewhat distasteful independents are to run the world more than

Honda, Suzuki, and Nissan, we must not make industrial mistakes. I do not think that we,
the Yomiuri Independents, are the only ones who feel the need to recreate and reorganize
the Independents in a way that is faithful to the past. I believe that this is also a demand of
the current Japanese art world.
What is a Union?
In October 1974, Mr. Masunobu Yoshimura spent a little more than a month in Paris, NewYork, Saso Francisco, and Los Angeles organizing a union proposal, which is now being
prepared in Tokyo. Mr. Yoshimura is a neo-Dada organizer, otherwise known as acontributor to the Yomiuri Independents Exhibition and other exhibitions that have raised
Japanese art to a world-class level. Yoshimura says.
“My ideal is a large artists' union. If the world's first artists' union is to be created, it will haveto be organized by the Japanese. It would still have to be an organization of writers
themselves, not dependent on patrons, for future diversification and development. I think it
is necessary to have an independent and Chinese philosophy. Therefore,
1, The organizer is a self-sufficient power capable of acting radically.
2, Precede the 60-year Grand Exhibition.
3. The Japanese should organize an artists' union (international).
4. To obtain some kind of sponsorship in the near future and create our own museum(warehouse, atelier, art museum).
5. To expand the organization to the end of the line, and open or acquire museums andgalleries.
The latter part of the bulleted list was decided at the meeting, and is not the opinion of Mr.
Yoshimura alone.
Since some of what I have written may not be clear, I would like to explain myunderstanding of the situation. The expansion of the Japanese economy has necessitatedthe development of a distribution system of general trading companies, which has led tothe astonishing growth of trading companies. A distribution mechanism for the art worldmust be established in conjunction with the Japanese economy. If it cannot be done, The
problems of parks, museums, and medical colleges, which are most needed by local
governments, will not be solved. Since it has not been established, a ridiculous art museum
has been built in Kyushu, where a single painting can be purchased for 200 million yen andthe museum is only there for that single painting. Establish a distribution mechanism for art
with individual artists as the smallest unit of distribution. At the same time, designers,illustrators, photographers, etc., as a related organization, should now also be members of
the huge At the same time, designers, illustrators, photographers, etc., as related

organizations, now need clear independence from huge clients, tactics that can withstandsuch orders, and a strong union-like distribution mechanism. More theoretically, we need toestablish a new "general trading company" type of distribution system for the art world forthe sake of social significance and livelihood.
I understand and act on the understanding that the first work was the holding of exhibitionsin the 1960s that brought about the Yomiuri Independents and other national avant-garde,and the call for the formation of a "union" as an open entity for all fields as a powerfulapproach to the reorganization of world art. Naturally, the competition will be even tougher
than before, and unexpected new developments will unfold. This will require atechnological mindset. We still need to develop a variety of luminous ideas to succeed inbringing relationships together. Another world situation is moving in a controlling direction,
whether we like it or not. In other words, it is becoming more and more political.
How do we respond to the interplay between control and art, between art bureaucrats andartists, and between bureaucratic control and the general public?
Yes or no will not solve the problem at all. We must quickly become one of the residents.
The relationship between sei-katsu-sha and unions is also a key element in thereorganization that must take place. In my case, Kyushu is my sphere of residence, andeven though I am now in France, my starting point is in Kyushu.
My Kyushu
Kyushu-Ha was founded when I was 27 years old, so it has already been more than 20years. There were always four or five members in Kyushu-Ha.論 We would sometimes
leave because of disputes or the arrival of an art dealer, but no one ever left Kyushu. EvenI, who am always roaming around in foreign countries, cannot leave Kyushu, and in theend, I cannot imagine leaving the Kyushu-Ha style. The fact that it arose and existed in arural area with little activity resulted in its interesting character. It means that the membersin their prime can come together whenever they want to. This uniqueness is the power ofKyushu. At the same time, it is the source of Kyushu-Ha's energy.
The 20 years of its existence have made it a solid organization, like a young girl becoming
a great mother. Now there is no Kyushu-Ha; Kyushu-Ha has melted away and there are
only Kyushu avant-garde artists. The exhibitions of art teachers in Fukuoka Prefecture
gathered in "Today's Art Exhibition" have a five-year history of complete independence.
The "Trend Exhibition" and the "Emotion Exhibition," organized with the cooperation of art

journalists from newspapers such as Nishinippon, Mainichi, and Fukunichi, are still goingstrong, having filled the 10-year period since the Kyushu-Ha exhibition. It is rare to find aplace like this where the forces have been preserved without incident. At the same time,
the situation in which some of the poets, novelists, activists, and journalists who wereactive in Minamata and Miike are always united is truly unique. Such a situation is aprerequisite for building the "Kyushu Kingdom," which means that independent planning ispossible if theories and plans are clearly formulated in the Kyushu region. Miike may havelost, but Minamata is still making steady progress. The Denshukan issue in Yanagawa Cityis just as important as Minamata in terms of education for local people, but it seems as if
the battle itself has become a way of life, just like a moss growing on the ground.
How great it is in the world that a small, individual unit of residents, not bureaucrats or large
corporations, or even a local avant-garde artist whose unit has been forgotten, can confront
the 20-year union issue with a small but independent exhibition for so long. We will fulfill
our responsibility as a French branch of the horizontal movement by connecting with theKyushu Kingdom, with unions, and with the 60th anniversary exhibition. We are fully awarethat we are expected to study and work hard to adapt to an increasingly harsh global
environment and an art distribution system similar to that of large corporations. We areconfident that we can play a part in reorganizing the world art scene with advanced tactics
and luminaries until the day it is truly ours.