Okakura Kakuzo (Yokohama, 1862 - 1913, Akakura)
Letter to Isabella Stewart Gardner from 253 Marlborough Street, Boston, 12 February 1906
Ink on paper
Blue Room
Commentary
Okakura Kakuzo, a scholar of Japanese art and culture who lived between Boston and Tokyo, sent this heartfelt letter to Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1906. In it, he discusses his friend Uchimura Tengan, a jiu-jitsu expert who famously gave Isabella private jiu-jitsu lessons. Apparently, Gardner had a hand in reuniting Uchimura with his mother, whom he had not seen in many years and who apparently thought her son was dead. Okakura writes, “I can but reiterate my thanks for what you have done for Uchimura as you have done for all of us.”