Evening star., 1953-02-16
"A Teacher Comes From Zen japan
By james WoIdo Foweett

THOSE crowds of people hurrying
l. into the National Gallery about IL
O'Clock each weekday morning are the
pupils Of a new teacher who has
created q sensation in art circles In
washington since January 25.
His name is DR.. Jiro Harada. He was
sent here by the japanese government
to explain the exhibition Of japanese
paintings and works OF sculpture lent
to American museums for the year 1858.
BY knowledge and experience. he is an
ideal instructor for such an assignment.
A native Of Yamaguchi-ken, born in
1878, he began to prepare for his pres
ent work as child. One Of his uncleS
was an artist, and 1t may be that he
got his inspiration from that source.
When he was only IA, DR.. Harada
crossed the Pacific to California as
member of the army Of japanese school,
boys made famous by Wallace Irwin. He
earned his board and keep as house.
servant in San Francisco. Above every
thing else, he wished to speak English
correctly. Eventually he was graduated
from the University of California.
Meanwhile, DR.. Harada had become
deeply conscious Of the growing an
tagonism between Americans and the
peoples of the Orient The cleavage dis
tressed him profoundly. and he Strove
to fnd a correction for it. Diplomacy
appealed to him, but the field Of culture
had even greater attraction. When he
returned to Japan in 1905 he had deter
mined to devote his life to cultural
interchange. He taught in several gov
ernment colleges, then was sent to
London as an attache Of the Anglo
Japanese exhibition in 1909. Back In
the United States in connection with
the japanese portion Of the Pan Pacific
Exposition in 1915, he was received at
the White House by President Wilson.
DR.. Harada subsequently was in
Genoa in 1920 and in Geneva in 1921,
1925 and 1928. He did an American
lecture tour in 1885 and 1896. Coinci-
dentally, he wrote for British and Amer
ican newspapers and magazines, 1nclud-
ing the Studio, London. He likewise
contributed to the Encyclopedias Bri-
tannica, covering Japanese architecture.
sculpture. interior decoration. gardens.
ivory carving, the tea ceremonies and
the Noh dramas.
Oficial recognition in his own coun-
try came to DR.. Harada in 1925, when
he was appointed member Of the stan
of the Imperial Household Museum, now
the Tokyo National Museum. His cata-
logue Of japanese art in that famous
depository was published in 1884. Other
books for which he is responsible are:
Gardens of Japan" 1928; "Hiroshige,"
1929; Japanese Architecture" 1886:
and "A Glimpse Of Japanese Ideals"
1887. Even more important than these
works, however, are his English cata-
logue of the imperial repository. Shoso-
more comprehensive book on the Shoso-
in. issued in 1850.
The Shoso-in Is DR.. Harada's "par-
ticular pigeon" It is a building on g.
foot stills in the park behind the Dali
butsu temple at Nara, about 300 miles
west Of Tokyo. Constructed more than
1000 years ago especially to provide
permanent shelter for all the articles
which had been in daily use at the
court Of the emperor Shomu-T -Tenno. it
represents a treasure house of japanese
culture of priceless worth. Among the
artifacts are: Swords. musical instru-
ments, mirrors, articles relating to
Buddhistic worship, vestments, orna-
ments, writing implements. books, paint
ings. toys, medicines. spices. etc. Some
of the material is Of foreign" origin.
having come from outside Japan, but
most of it is of native production-the
fruit Of an especially notable creative
era.
DR.. Harada has had access to Shoso-
in for nearly 28 years. and he has mas
tered its contents thoroughly. During
World War II, he helped to pack the
treasures in cases for removal to q
temple in the mountains in case Of
American bombardment Of Nara. But
after peace. was restored he learned
that the American Air Force had been
instructed specifically to spare Shoso-in.
The United States Army brought DR..
Harada to America in 1851 to visit
museums and consult about the preser-
vation and use Of cultural properties.
His skill in the practical employment
of the English language plus his knowl-
edge of the arts and crafts Of the jap
anese people from prehistoric times up
to the present era qualify DR.. Harada
as an ambassador of a sort. But the
crowds that follow him through the ex-
hibition rooms of the National Gallery
have discovered other talents In him, too.
For example, he definitively is q phil
osopher-an interpreter Of the school
of Buddhism known as Zen. This is
q body Of doctrine tracing back to
Bodhidharma or Daruma, called "the
last Of the great Indian teachers"
who appeared in China in the sixth
century. He and his disciples taught
the Importance of "the contemplation
of nature in all her aspects as disci-
pline to the SOUL" The Zen influence
brought into existence "a distinct
school of pure landscape painting"
It also. in the twelfth century, inau-
gurated the tea ceremonies, promot-
ing. "a frame Of mind favorable to
religious contemplation." Modern
critics have held that of all branches Of