'Exchange memories have enriched my life': Tasmanian artist celebrates Japan through exhibition

Kaye Green says she is so thankful for an exchange she took to Japan more than half a century ago. To celebrate, the Tasmanian artist has created 50 bonsai prints.

Kaye Green in Kyoto Japan,1972 (left), and one of her bonsai artworks (right). Credit: Kaye Green

For Hobart-based artist, Kaye Green, her memories of being on an exchange program in Japan more than 50 years ago are still vivid.

The memories of the extended Doi family, her Japanese school life, listening to the koto (traditional stringed instrument), participating in a tea ceremony, and even the temple gongs on New Year’s Eve are still easily recalled, Ms Green explains.

“All of these memories and thousands more continue to enrich my life and give me insights and help to hone the way I see and think about the world,” she tells SBS Japanese.

Kaye Green, first on the right, top line, Japan, 1972. Credit: Kaye Green

The year was 1972, shortly before the Whitlam Labour government definitively ended the White Australia Policy.

However, for Ms Green, she says listening to stories of Japan from her mother was part of her everyday life and something that she still cherishes today.

In the 1930s, Ms Green's mother became close friends with Setsuko Mori in Sydney, where she had relocated temporary. Setsuko's father was a silk merchant from Yokohama.

"My mother was homesick for Tasmania as Setsuko was for Japan, and they drew comfort in each other's pining for their respective homelands," Ms Green explains.

"I always loved hearing the stories my mother told of their friendship."

"People's skin colour or their eye shape never crossed my mind. People were people for me."

Ms Green has kept these photos for her mother's friend, Setsuko, hoping to connect with her children and grandchildren. Credit: Kaye Green

While the two girls corresponded for some time after returning to their respective home towns, their communication was disrupted by war and never resumed.

Longing for her lost friend, Ms Green's mother often told stories about Setsuko and Japan.

I had visions of the streets of Yokohama, kimonos, delicate cherry blossom trees, dark wooden houses in narrow streets and, somewhere, a girl called Setsuko Mori.

Kaye Green

Growing up listening to these stories, Ms Green says it was only natural for her to form a close friendship with a Japanese exchange student, who came to her high school as part of the Lion Club’s international youth exchange program in 1971.

The program was established in 1961 to provide young people with an opportunity for greater cultural understanding.

She says her friendship mirrored that of her mother's and Setsuko almost 40 years prior. So, when the opportunity opened for Ms Green herself to become an exchange student in Japan a year later, after graduating high school, she says there was little hesitation.

Kaye Green in Japan, 1972. Credit: Kaye Green

“Speaking no Japanese posed few, if any, problems, and I soon settled into my new life as a Japanese schoolgirl,“ Ms Green said.

“As time went on, not only did I feel very connected and 'Japanese' in my mind, I even started to believe that I physically looked quite Japanese! My year in Japan passed with many exciting and memorable experiences.”

Fifty years later, Ms Green says she is still holding on to these memories and is thankful for her exchange experience in Japan, which shaped her life after that.

Kaye Green is an artist based in Hobart, Tasmania. Credit: Kaye Green

“I still have the doll my Japanese mother gave me on my first night, a haori (traditional jacket) I made at school, the teacup I used every day, my school graduation certificate, and my photo albums,” she said.

While these objects bring back memories, it is “not as significant or precious as what is inside me”, says Ms Green.

I believe that I have spent the last 50 years benefiting from my exchange year as an artist but most importantly as a person. I am connected to my Japanese experience every single day.

Kaye Green

Ms Green says these feelings became stronger, as it approached 50th anniversary since her exchange.

"How can I express my depth of gratitude and love for Japan?" she said.

Last month, Ms Green held an exhibition “Bonsai Pilgrimage” in Hobart, 50 bonsai artworks, to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of her “extraordinary year”.

Fifty bonsai artworks to say 'thank you' 50 years after Ms Green's exchange, Handmark Gallery, Salamanca, Hobart. Credit: Kaye Green

“Drawing each bonsai has been a spiritual experience (with) each one giving me the opportunity to reflect deeply about Japan,“ Ms Green said.

“Revealing the enigmatic qualities of the bonsai fitted perfectly with my feelings about Japan and my 'Japanese-ness'. Bonsai, for me, are about beauty, age, philosophy, time, memory, symbol, and metaphor embraced in a small tree.”

Ms Green says people engaged with her stories and 50 artworks.

One of the 50 bonsai artworks by Kaye Green. Credit: Kaye Green

However, one lost piece in the puzzle still exists – Setsuko Mori, her mother's long-lost friend, who was the first chapter of Ms Green's continuing story about Japan.

For years, Ms Green has been searching for Setsuko's family, trying to connect with their children and grandchildren.

"It will be a total completion of my story and connection to Japan," she said.

SBS Japanese has reached out to Nikkei Australia, an organisation that preserves and promotes the legacy of the Japanese diaspora in Australia, for clues.

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