Items · Texas State Museum of Asian Cultures

Man sculpting a detailed figurine of a man in a suit.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969.

Students seated in a classroom with floral arrangements on desks; papers and camera in the foreground.

Flower arrangement class in Japan

A model tree, a figurine in traditional attire, and rocks on a round base.

Mikimoto Kōkichi

Mikimoto Kōkichi was a Japanese pearl farmer and merchant who introduced the commercial production of cultured pearls.

Illustration of a red torii gate with text about the Japanese Art Museum of Corpus Christi.

Text in Image:

"The Japanese Art Museum"
"OF CORPUS CHRISTI"
"ONE OF A KIND IN THE WORLD ...an educational institution for the whole community with special emphasis on youth."
"A NON-PROFIT MUSEUM GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH TEXAS BY THE BILLIE TRIMBLE CHANDLER ARTS FOUNDATION, INC."

Japanese Art Museum flyer

Japanese Art Museum flyer in 1974

Two individuals in traditional and modern clothing stand in front of art-adorned walls.

Reverend Junkyo and Mrs. Chandler

At the private exhibition

Elderly person painting with a brush held in their mouth, wearing traditional robes and a beaded necklace.

Text Section: "REVEREND JUNKO OISHI, WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS ARMLESS ARTIST"

Junkyo Oishi

Artist drawing a painting.

Kamishibai

A man called Kamishibai-ya carried a few sets of pictures and a miniature stage strapped on the back of his bicycle. He beat on wooden clappers to let children know he was around and sold snacks and candies. Then start Kamishibai, a paper play storytelling, which pictures in the frame and slides the scenes in and out of the portable stage.

A person in traditional costume performing a dance with a fan, set against a backdrop of a stylized tree.

Noh

Noh play is one of the oldest classical stage arts, with its distinctive music and dance. The stage setting is quite simple, and there is usually only one large pine tree painted at the back of the stage. The actors wear very elaborate costumes, and the main actors wear masks. This is one of her Hakata doll collections, and she painted it with the background.

A dark vase with yellow chrysanthemum flowers and a scroll painting on a red background.

Nageire

Title: Reaching heaven Philodendron branches stripped of all leaves to the tips make very pretty line material as in this nageire arrangement. Five yellow chrysanthemums form to body or mass of this arrangement. The vase is an old bronze on a teak-wood stand.

Painting of a vase with green leaves and yellow flowers on a wooden pedestal against a light blue background.

Nageire

Title: A samurai's delight Magnolia leaves, a white chrysanthemum classically graces the old Chinese inlaid bronze nageire vase. The table is black lacquer with an inlaid pearl design. A touch of oriental adds exquisite beauty to an occidental room.

Oral History Interview of Sara Jose

This is an oral history recording of Sara Jose interviewed by James Hurst. Jose discusses her family upbringing, educational background, professional duties at the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve and Learning Center, and the science behind Corpus Christi as a home for one of the most diverse quantities of bird species in the country.

Oral History Interview of Christine Udeani

This is an oral history recording done by Angelina Udeani of Christine Udeani. She immigrated from Nigeria to the United States. The recording is based on Christine’s life experiences in Nigeria compared to her living in South Texas. This is a variety of her stories and how she has emigrated into society.

A decorated float with people in traditional attire at a Japanese festival.

Painting of Gion Festival

Sumo wrestling ceremony in front of a large temple gate with a crowd watching.

Painting of a performance

Two traditional Japanese dolls in front of a patterned backdrop with tassels.

The 125th Emperor and Empress

She ordered Hakata dolls modeled by the 125th emperor of Japan Akihito and Empress Michiko to celebrate their marriage on April 10, 1959. He is the first Japanese emperor to have married a commoner and their marriage was greatly celebrated nationwide.

Newspaper page with an article on students learning about Japanese culture, featuring photos of children engaging with exhibits and dressing in a kimono.

Text Transcription:

Headline: Students get taste of Japan
Byline: By Patsy Lochbaum
Article Text: Elementary school children in Corpus Christi have added Japanese culture to their curriculum. How to tie a kimono, hold chopsticks and paint Japanese brush characters are part of a crash course for student visitors to the Japanese Museum, 426 S. Staples. Five to six groups of students visit the museum each week, Director Joe McKinley said.
Japanese-native Hisako Ochiai teaches the two-hour culture class and provides art collections donated by the Billie Trimble Chandler Arts Foundation.
Mrs. Chandler collected more than 1,000 hand-painted Hakata dolls representing every phase of Japanese culture during 17 years of teaching American dependents in Japan. She paid more than $10,000 to ship the dolls and other collections from Corpus Christi to set up the museum in 1973.
Many of the dolls are displayed in sealed models of Japanese land-marks, including the Gold Pavilion in Kyoto, a geisha house, a rural farm scene, and a fishing village. (More detailed article text continues...)
Caption: Sixth grader Debra Smith, left, admires a model of a Japanese geisha house while, above, Steve Whiteaker and Dina Baugh dress Javier Garza in a kimono (Photos by Patsy Lochbaum).

Students get taste of Japan

Caller Community Life West, December 15, 1977. Elementary School children in corpus Christi have added Japanese culture to their curriculum. They had a great time experiencing various Japanese cultures by using Mrs. Chandler's collections in the museum.

Brochure page featuring photographs and text about Japanese art, highlighting artifacts like bronzeware, hakata dolls, and more.

Brochure of the Japanese Art Museum

The museum offers various programs which enhance the education, social, and cultural life of the community by promoting better understanding among people who have different backgrounds.

"Advertisement for 'The Geisha Story' book series by Billie T. Chandler."

Text Transcription:

Left purple section, white text:
The Geisha Story
with
Doll-and-Flower
Arrangements

by
Billie T. Chandler
Founder of Hakata
Ryu Floral Art

Charles E. Tuttle Co.
Rutland, Vermont
Tokyo, Japan

Right white section, black text:
A WONDERFUL GIFT SERIES
JAPANESE DOLLS AND FLOWER ARRANGEMENT COMBINED

HERE IS A SERIES presenting flower arrangement with a new twist—adding the long-famous
Hakata dolls in miniature settings. Hakata dolls are tiny, skillfully crafted figurines, people
captured in clay in a moment of dynamic action or serene repose. Mrs. Chandler has created
a proper setting to dramatize the moment for which each figure was designed. These books,
with brocade covers and lovely full-color photographs, make excellent gifts for anyone who
appreciates decoration with an Oriental flare.

THE GEISHA STORY
by Billie T. Chandler; photographs by Herbert J. Herpolsheimer, Jr.
This first volume depicts the much-discussed but often misunderstood geisha. She is shown,
with few exceptions, in the kimono and hairstyle of a long-ago era, sometimes at her profes-
sional duties of dancing and singing, or again performing the daily tasks common to women
the world over, and in settings which suggest her mood of elegance and grace. Included are
stories of some of the most famous geisha whose lives are still remembered.
56 pages, 6" x 7", 13 full color plates, brocade binding, boxed, L.C. No. 63-8717 $5.00

JAPANESE FAMILY LIFE
by Billie T. Chandler; photographs by Shigemasa Nagai
This unique presentation of the family life of the Japanese illustrates something of their way of
living and the reasons for their attitudes and actions. Included is a brief glimpse of Japanese
history, in order to give the reader a perspective from which to observe these Hakata portrayals
of some customs, manners, and daily activities of the Japanese family—a chance to note how
their lives differ from or are similar to ours.
57 pages, 6" x 7", 12 full color plates, brocade binding, boxed, L.C. No. 63-19393 $5.00

JAPANESE TRADESMEN AND CRAFTSMEN (tentative; in preparation)
by Billie T. Chandler; photographs by Shigemasa Nagai
This volume portrays the long tradition of skillful creation and the special genius of the Japanese
for adapting and improving the trade or craft in which they are engaged. In a world where
mechanization reduces human effort to a minimum, these arrangements bring to life a place
where old skills are nurtured and honored and where pride in achievement is of primary im-
portance.

Order from Charles E. Tu

Outer cover of the Geisha Story

As Hakata dolls depict real life through delicately carved and subtle facial expressions by highly skilled technique, they are not only beautiful but have stories. By adding the backdrops and story, she created new ways to introduce Japanese culture.

Illustration of a Japanese room with people sleeping under blankets, a Christmas tree, a shrine, and Santa Claus peeking from a sliding door.

Christmas in Japan

Due to the many people in Christian countries coming to Japan, Christmas is now observed, not as a religious holiday but as a festive one. Children wait for Santa Claus, not to come down a chimney but through the sliding door.

Children in blue attire participate in a Japanese festival carrying a decorated portable shrine.

Festival and Mikoshi (portable shrine)

In Japan, every town has its patron god and people carry the spirit of their deity in its Mikoshi, or portable shrine, and parade the streets of the town or around the shrine. This picture depicts the parade in front of Dazaifu Shrine, Kyushu.

Drawing of a central seated figure on a lotus, atop three elephants.

Fugen Bosatsu

Fugen Bosastu, or Fugen Bodhisattva, symbolizes all virtues, universal goodness, and worthiness of Buddhism. Usually, the image is riding on sacred white elephants, and is put aside the "Shaka Nyorai" with "Monju Bosatsu."

Traditional Japanese dancer in a floral kimono with a backdrop of sliding panels featuring flowers and mountains.

Yaegaki Hime (princess)

Princess Yaegaki is the popular heroin of Kabuki performance and other Japanese performing arts. She is the daughter of a feudal load during the warring state in Japan. She is dancing with the helmet of possessing a mysterious power on her hand in this scene. This is one of her Hakata doll collections, and she painted it with the background.

Typed letter dated November 6, 1964, to Mrs. Billie T. Chandler at Itazuke Air Force Base Dependent School from Mrs. Josephine Ripley, Chief Librarian.

Text Transcription:

Mrs. Billie T. Chandler
Itazuke Air Force Base
Dependent School
APO 929, U.S Forces

6 Nov 1964

Dear Mrs. Chandler:

It is my pleasure to write you and let you know how very much I enjoyed the wonderful exhibit of Hakata Ryu art, and the delightful original program at the Officer's Club luncheon last Tuesday.

I am indeed happy to have the same exhibits on display at the library, and to participate in and help with the Chandler Essay and Short Story contest which is an end result of this fine exhibition.

Everyone who saw the exhibits could only feel one way, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever!" These were Keats' immortal words. How inspiring also is the educational concept behind such art-the combination of history, legend, folk-lore, and good old red-blooded American patriotism is a sure fire combination designed to appeal to almost everyone with an ounce of imagination.

Not only is such a program of value to school children now, but it is an important and dramatic stepping stone toward their adulthood-teaching them to read the printed page, interpreting it, and making a firm decision therefrom. It was so very timely to have a presidential election debate and classroom project as well. The Hakata Ryu representations of one live and one dead president illustrated to everyone the relentless flow of time and change in the pattern of history.

Equally as delightful and artistic were the displays of Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko, Emperor Meiji, and little Prince Hiro.

Good luck to you, Mrs. Chandler, your museum in Dallas, now dormant, will not stay that way long when you return to the United States and start to put this lovely educational material into good use for the public.

Thanks again for the chance to be a part of this program.

Sincerely,

(Signature)

Mrs. Josephine Ripley, USCE
Chief Librarian
Itazuke Air Force Base, APO 929
c/o Postmaster, San Francisco, C

Appreciation letter

She received many appreciation letters from guests after she had cultural programs. They enjoyed Japanese culture and history lessons through the beautiful Hakata Ryu floral arrangement. To provide a deep understanding and good international relationships was the purpose of Hakata Ryu.

People working in a rice paddy with mountains in the background. Two men stand conversing in the foreground.

Rice planting

During her stay in Japan, she painted many local people living in rural areas. Rice is a staple food in Japan, but rice planting is a hard, back-breaking job. She tried to depict the real daily life of farmers along with stories.

Kabuki

She studied various performing arts in Japan, such as Kabuki and Noh. This painting is one of the popular Kabuki stories, Shibaraku, which literally means "just a moment." This character depicts a superhero with an elaborate costume and makeup. This is one of her Hakata doll collections, and she painted it with the background.