The Unveiling of "Former Ozaki Teodora Residence" Funded and Managed by Manga Artists,
Kazumi Yamashita Talks About the Trajectory of the Project
By Comic Natalie Editorial Department
The group of mangaka at the Ozaki House.
The General Incorporated Association of the Former Ozaki Residence Preservation Project, led by Kazumi Yamashita and Nami Sasao, held an unveiling and press conference at the former Ozaki Theodora Residence in Tokyo on February 8, 2010. In addition to Yamashita and Sasao, Tatsuo Nitta, Kibo Mita, Rumiko Takahashi, Nobuyuki Fukumoto, and Noboru Takahashi, who participated in the preservation project, took the stage at the presentation. They talked about the past and future development of the preservation activities of the former Theodora Ozaki Residence. In the latter half of the presentation, Osamu Akimoto, Go Nagai, Tetsuya Chiba, and Waki Yamato also took the stage.
[1]
The Theodora Ozaki house, built in 1889, has been restored thanks to the efforts of the group of mangaka.
The former Theodora Ozaki residence is a 135-year-old Western-style building that still exists in Gotokuji, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. It is said to have been built in 1888 for the British-born daughter Theodora by her Japanese father, a baron, and in 1933, it was moved from its original location in Minato Ward to Gotokuji by a British literary scholar who inherited the Western-style building. Theodora later became the wife of Yukio Ozaki, the former mayor of Tokyo.
[2]
The former Theodora Ozaki Residence was threatened with demolition in 2019. However, Yamashita, who was fascinated by the elegant appearance of the house, launched a project to preserve the former Ozaki residence. Yamashita, who has seen the lovely Western-style house every time she is out for a walk, says, "When I heard about the demolition, I couldn't just stand by; I consulted with Tetsuya Tanokura, an architect who I had worked with in the past, and we started working with neighbors, but it was quite difficult... However, I decided to do my best to get to this point and started a petition drive on the Internet, which received an unexpectedly large response."
Later, Sasao and Nitta managed to purchase the land after joining the preservation movement. However, it turned out that it would cost a great deal of money to repair the building. Mita, who had originally been interested in the project, took the lead and asked for the cooperation of many manga artists. Mita said, "With the cooperation of Nitta-san, (he and I) raised the initial funds for now, but even so (the cost) was not even close to enough (laughs). I consulted with Rumiko Takahashi, as well as fellow golfers Nobuyuki Fukumoto and Noboru Takahashi, and they were very willing to help us out," he stated.
Sasao also said that they conducted crowdfunding to preserve the architecture, saying, "We worked hard to come up with drawings and goods using the committee's crowdfunding page as a reference, and as a result, we received a great response, which exceeded our initial expectations. We received more than 15 million yen in support, which gave us more encouragement than anything else," he says, looking back on those early days of the project. He also expressed his deep gratitude to his supporters, saying that even when they ran out of funds due to the soaring prices for materials, he conducted another round of crowdfunding and was able to reach his goal. Mita knew some investors, but as he talked with Yamashita, he revealed that he wanted to achieve this through the power of manga artists. "I felt that there was no point in manga artists unless they worked for the sake of manga through the power of manga artists, so from there I asked Rumiko-sensei, Takahashi-sensei, and others. In the end, I felt satisfied that the seven of us were able to work together to make this happen."
A collection of drawings by the mangaka, at left is The Quiet Don by Tatsuo Nitta.
Fukuda heard about the project from Mita and said, "When I heard about this project, I thought it would help manga artists. I'm glad that I could lend my strength to the project," he says. Rumiko Takahashi added, "I thought it would be a dream if I could leave this kind of property (to future generations), so I didn't hesitate to get involved." Noboru Takahashi added, "I'm very honored and happy to be asked by Mita-sensei to participate in this project. Thank you very much."
In the future, the second floor will be used for gallery exhibitions, while the first floor will be used for a café, photo studio, and store. The store will feature goods by manga artists as well as original products under the "Theodora House" brand. It was also announced that a mail order site will be launched to sell original drawings by the artists to overseas customers, and that an auction is also planned.
When asked by a reporter about the status of preservation of original manga drawings, Mita responded, "Currently, preservation of original drawings is becoming a negative thing for artists. It's risky to have them," he answered. "Because even if they try to pass them on to their families when they pass away, their grandchildren will be inconvenienced by inheritance taxes, etc., so artists are disposing of them themselves or giving them to other people. However, I would like the Japanese industry to be a positive environment for art. I want artists to be proactive about their artwork. I launched this project because I thought it would be financially stable if there was a system that allowed artists to sell their original artwork overseas. There are retired artists who would like to draw illustrations, even though it is difficult for them to draw manga. I would like to make these wonderful techniques known directly to people overseas."
The mail order site is scheduled to open on March 1, the same date as the opening of the former Theodora Ozaki residence. It was announced that original drawings by major artists will be available. The date of the auction has not yet been determined, but it will be held in the form of a secret auction, where the amount of the bids will not be known.
Rumiko Takahashi speaking to the press at the Ozaki House.
In addition, "AAR Japan [Association for Aid and Relief Japan]," a group associated with Theodora Ozaki, presented a photograph to Yamashita, and an architect who was actually involved in the building's repairs gave an explanation. Mita's golfing buddies Akimoto, Nagai, and Tetsuya Chiba, as well as Yamato, then took the stage. Chiba said, "When I heard a long time ago that this wonderful Western-style building was going to be torn down, I told them that it should be preserved as a proper cultural asset. I was all for it and I was happy about it, but when I think about it, I think this is something that should be done by the government," he said.
"I am happy to have a place where local people can come into contact with original manga artwork," says Nagai. "I think manga culture is finally seeing the light of day. I hope that this exhibition will become a place to promote the fact that manga culture is a wonderful thing for society as well. Akimoto added, "I hope that the former Ozaki Theodora Residence, which also has an art museum element, will become a famous landmark in Tokyo." He hoped that visitors would enjoy tea and cake while looking at manga artists' manuscripts, which are rarely seen in this increasingly digital world.
Yamato is working to establish a manga museum in Hokkaido. I have also drawn manga from the Meiji era, so when I saw the restored Western-style building, I was reminded of how high the ceilings are," she said. She also talked about how she is working together with the government to build the Hokkaido Manga Museum, saying, "There are many things that don't go well with the government (because) we are in different fields. I'm really bowled over to think that Yamashita-san talked with the bureaucracy and went through a lot of hard work in order to make this happen. I think it's a wonderful dynamic," she said, congratulating the museum on its recent opening.
Footnotes
- [1] To help give context to these artists their associated works will be listed here: Kazumi Yamashita (山下和美) creator of The Life of Genius Professor Yanagizawa (天才柳沢教授の生活), Nami Sasou (笹生那実) creator of No Roses Without Thorns: My Life As a Shojo Manga Assistant (薔薇はシュラバで生まれる―70年代少女漫画アシスタント奮闘記―), Rumiko Takahashi (高橋留美子) creator of MAO, Norifusa Mita (三田紀房) creator of Dragon Zakura (ドラゴン桜), Nobuyuki Fukumoto (福本伸行) creator of Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji (賭博黙示録カイジ), Tatuso Nitta (新田たつお) creator of The Quiet Don (静かなるドン), Noboru Takahashi (高橋のぼる) the creator of Mole's Song (土竜の唄), Osamu Akimoto (秋本治) creator of KochiKame (こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所), Go Nagai (永井豪) creator of Devilman (デビルマン), Tetsuya Chiba (千葉徹彌) artist of Ashita no Joe (あしたのジョー) and Waki Yamato (大和和紀) creator of Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern (はいからさんが通る).
- [2] Yei Evelyn Theodora Kate Ozaki (英子 セオドラ 尾崎) was a half-Japanese, half-British translator of short stories and fairy tales. Her father, Baron Saburo Ozaki was one of the first Japanese men to study in the West. She eventually married the similarly named Yukio Ozaki, the major of Tokyo, who often received her mail given the closeness of their names.
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