12xHolland diary (E)

click to read the personal diary of:
Bas (July) | David (August)

Diary: July 1st - 15th

July 1st 2000
After a flight from Amsterdam via Vienna, Osaka and Fukuoka, and a bus travel to Sasebo arrives the first group of 12xHolland participators at 17:30 by boat in Hirado. The group - consisting of: Bas Valckx, Stephan Peters (with his wife Marlies and the children Rosa (2) and Tijs (5)), Klaas Kamphuis and the organizers Junko Ueda and Wil Offermans. In the harbour of Hirado they receive a warm welcome Terayama-san and other officials of Hirado, by the citizens as well as many media. Next, follows a welcome party at the Matsura museum. The participators are introduced to their host and finally go to sleep in their new apartment.

July 2nd 2000

Klaas enjoys his new 3-room apartment.
Stephan travels together with host Hayashi-san to Sasebo to buy painting materials.
Bas meets with his host Kuga-san (curator of the Matsura museum).
The "12xHolland-car" is decorated with posters.

July 3rd 2000

With the host of Bas (Kuga-san) a schedule is discussed concerning e.g. o.a. school visits, a small course "Dutch for Travellers" and research concerning Hirado-ben (dialect) as well as the old samurai-language Gokachû-ben.
The 12xHolland participators and organizers have an official meeting with the major of Hirado Shirahama-san. The meeting will be broadcasted in the morning news of NHK-tv on July 4th.
Next, KTN-tv does some shooting at the Cultural Centre Hirado.

July 4th 2000

Stephan receives his first paint from Machida-san en enters a small atelier in the shopping street.
Klaas his search for a suitable tree for his Mon-statue. He researches the forest in Kamisuki-no-sato and - together with his host, the carpenter Kinoshita-san - he visits the Inoue wood cutting workshop.
Klaas visits the small fisherman's town Kawachi, where he meets with the director of the local post office Ishida-san. He is invited for July 24th/25th to construct a simple "optimist yacht" together with high school students. This small boat wil be inaugurated during the "Open Yacht Race" (July 29th/30th).

July 5th 2000
Bas has a taiko-lesson in Imari.
Stephan plays softball with the Miyanchô club (shop owners association).

July 6th 2000

"Dutch Introduction" lecture by Bas at the Tsuyoshi-sho elementary school in southern Hirado (together with Jeroen Veldhuizen).
Klaas got a heavy pain in his back and gets a massage by Ikeda-san.
Stephan moves to his new atelier in a former shop in the main shopping street. Stephan's children Rosa and Tijs enjoy themselves in the stone garden around their house, however it is hard for them to get used to the heath and high humidity. Together with some Hirado children they make Japanese origami, which they will hang as a decoration in bamboo trees tomorrow for the Tanabata festival.

July 7th 2000

Hagiwara-san, Watanabe-san (both officials of Hirado-city), Bas, Stephan, Marlies, Rosa, Tijs, Junko en Wil travel by private bus to Nagasaki. There they have an official meeting with Kuraji-san (managing director "Nagasaki Holland Year Association") and Kaneko-san (head of prefecture of Nagasaki). after this the group moves to the KTN-tv studios for a live-interview with Bas and Stephan for the tv-program "Televie Myude". (Unfortunately, Klaas could not join to Nagasaki, because of a problems with his back.)

July 8th 2000

After many days of searching Klaas chooses a 4 meter long (60 cm diagonal) tree. With this wood he will construct his "Mon-object".
Stephan and Klaas visit the mother of Machida-san and see her shodo and exotic instruments.

Together with host Kuga-san and curator Kida-san, Bas visits the 88-year old lady Matsuura Tae, who lives in the historical and traditional house named Kairaku-en. She has some useful information for Bas in his search for the old language of samurai.

July 9th 2000

Stephan finishes his first portrait: a double-portrait of the 2 daughters of his host Hayashi-san.

July 10th 2000

Klaas cuts the tree along its axis. In the night he has his first shodo lesson.
Stephan makes a portrait of Takeyama-san, president of the commission 400 year Japan-Holland, Hirado.
The broken exhaustion pipe "12xHolland-car" get repaired by the car-sponsor "Heart&Heart".

July 11th 2000

Stephan is at work in his atelier and get more and more attention from all sorts of people passing by. Today he makes a portrait of his host Hayashi-san.
Bas is off for Saga.
Klaas is discussing with Kinoshita-san about preparing a little exposition on Japanese and Dutch carpenters-tools.

July 12th 2000

At the 12xCorner in the little harbour, a stage is made by Kinoshita-san, Machida-san and his staff. At this stage many 12xHolland activities will happen during the next few months.
Also today, Bas is in Saga
Klaas prepares for the transport of the wooden parts. Tomorrow morning, he will transport them 3 miles downhill to the little park in the harbour near the 12xCorner.

July 13th 2000

Today, various media are visiting 12xHolland i.e. NCC-tv and NBC-tv. They do some tv-shooting of the activities as well as some interviews with the participators. With a truck Klaas transports his heavy wooden parts of his Mon-statue to the 12xCorner. There, a special tent, he can work in the shadow. Many people come to see him at work.

In the morning, Stephan has a drawing workshop on kites around the theme "Holland". Location is the Nanbu high-school in the southern part of Hirado. In the afternoon he does a workshop portrait drawing at the Yûsei-en, Hirado (institute for mental handicapped people.

Bas does a lecture about Holland for 600 (!) students of the Hirado Shô elementary school. In the evening he has his first Dutch lesson "Dutch for travellers" at the Matsura museum.

July 14th 2000

Bas does a presentation at the kindergarten Hirado Yôchi-en and attracts is young audience e.g. by appearing as a Japanese as well as Dutch ghost.
Klaas makes his first wood constructions for his Mon-object
Stephan makes a portrait of an unknown shop-owner.

July 15th 2000
Bas, Klaas and Stephan go to Ikitsuki to practise for tomorrow's boat-racing.
Bas has a meeting with the Hirado Shidankai (histoy-club) at the Matsura museum.