Today I went to the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art to see a traveling exhibit of a Japanese artist Leonard Foujita , an expat who lived in Paris during the early 1900s. Not only did I go, but the waiting line serpentined for a while, and the exhibit was crowded - but worth the wait and crowds. This artist was friends with Picasso and Modigliani, his work being influenced by them and other Parisian artists of the time.It has been so interesting during our time in Japan to observe the Japanese and their nationalism and idolatry of famous Japanese people - for example, the artist whose works I saw today and the crowds waiting to view his work - Shizuka Arakawa, the gold medalist in the Olympic ladies figure skating, her success drawing hundreds of little girls to skating rinks trying to learn the "Ina Bauer" spread eagle position - the TV broadcasts of all but only major league baseball games whose teams have Japanese players on their rosters, such as the Mariners and the Yankees. Without a doubt, nationalism is incredibly important in Japan - much more so than I've observed and experienced anywhere else.
