Object details
Accession number
ARC.004156
Primary Creator
Okakura Kakuzo
(Yokohama, 1862 - 1913, Akakura)
Full title
Letter to Isabella Stewart Gardner from 253 Marlborough Street, Boston
Creation Date
12 February 1906
Object Case
Okakura Case
Language
English
Marks
Marked in pencil (recto, upper left): 13
Display Media
Ink on paper
Web 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.”
Permanent Gallery Location
Blue Room
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