• Shutaro Kobayashi is the creative director of Mitsui Fine Arts. Having just graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Economics, he has returned to Mitsui Fine Arts, sharing in Misako's desire to introduce the old world of Japan to the 21st century.  . 

  • SHUTA, The Perks of Being a 'Gaijin'

     

    SHUTA

    The Perks of Being a "Gaijin"

    I was raised in Cebu, one of the main islands in the southern region of the Philippines. While my parents are both Japanese, they moved to the Philippines before I was born for my father's business. I am always greatful about how this allowed me to be surrounded by an extremely culturally diverse environment. My parents made a great effort to teach me Japanese not just in speaking the language but to also learning about their homeland's history, my family's history, and the culture, food, and traditions they grew up with. Yet, this culture always felt like something I was an outsider to, accepted into simply because of the blood that ran through my veins.

     

    When I was 14, I moved o Santa Barbara, CA, to attend a boarding school and have since mainly resided in the United States. Between high-school and college, I took a gap year, spending half of it in Tokyo - the first time I had ever lived in Japan for an extended period of time - and the other half in San Francisco. During my time in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to intern for Mitsui Fine Arts, primarily focusing on our collection of Zuanchos (Kimono design books). It was through Mitsui Fine Arts and its introduction of Japanese art, crafts, and design that I finally discovered a genuine connection to my cultural identity; something I felt I had lacked throughout my life.Read More...

  • ART = CRAFT = DESIGN
  • AN UNCONVENTIONAL PATH

    AN UNCONVENTIONAL PATH

  • Throughout my life I felt a strange duality in identifying myself as Japanese while constantly feeling like an outsider. Internally,...

    Throughout my life I felt a strange duality in identifying myself as Japanese while constantly feeling like an outsider. Internally, I considered myself Filipino, (more specifically Cebuano), though most would not see it that way. Whenever I would visit Japan, I was quite insecure about interacting with people, hearing things like “you look Japanese but speak strangely” or “wow, Shuta you really are a foreigner (gaijin) ”. Needless to say, part of me always felt I lacked a real connection to my own culture. Yes, my family and I practiced Japanese traditions at home and I did learn enough Japanese to be able to communicate with my extended family in Japan, but my "Japanese-ness" felt as if it only existed through my parents.

  • During my gap year, I moved to San Francisco and interned at Mitsui Fine Arts. This happened right around the...

     

    During my gap year, I moved to San Francisco and interned at Mitsui Fine Arts. This happened right around the time Mitsui Fine Arts was preparing for the Book Exposition centered on Zuanchos (kimono design books). I fell in love with these prints. The striking modernity to them, the explosions of color making up odd patterns and strange abstractions.... 

  • 小　林, 秀 太 郎

     

     

    小　林

    秀 太 郎