The fact that Japanese individuals couldn’t establish an educational institution on par with the globally influential Bauhaus is indeed a source of deep humiliation for a very exclusive group. It seems to be a certain sense of zawameki.
While educational institutions worldwide, including Harvard University in the United States, carry forward the legacy of Bauhaus and on the other hand, embrace ideological movements like Arts and Crafts, Japan faced the challenge of scholars in economics and business abandoning their previous advanced research to pursue recognition from the business world and publishers.
However, scholars in economics and business like them lack a substantial foundation in art history, making this field exceptionally challenging in Japan. Even when utilizing the facilities of the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Economics, I consistently distance myself from these unique Japanese trends. It unquestionably revolves around the issue of collections.
On a different note, it’s worth mentioning the magnificent sight of Mies van der Rohe’s works adorning the lobbies of buildings housing national research institute and foreign investment bank in Chuo Ward, though unrelated to the previous discussion. However such narrative style tends to be disliked in Japan.
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