France has been a second home to me ever since I found myself unwelcome in Japan after my much-publicized opposition to recent imperialist activities by our government. The French were allied to Russia, and the Parisian newspapers were more than willing to expose my descent. I made it into Europe as a government supported scholar back in the 80’s. Astounded, yet at the same time, invigorated by Western advances in science and technology, Japan sent out its best minds to inquire and acquire. The successes of the Iwakura missions and other official fact finding missions to the West by senior bureaucrats prompted an opening for government grants and scholarships for upcoming students like me. As an artist and a student of aesthetics, I’ve always been drawn to my teachers who were diligently applying new techniques that were seeping in through the trade ports in Eastern Japan. Reports from our legations in Western Europe, cited Japanese influence on Impressionist art by newly developing ar...