Nkaniida Bach Hall

Year: 1980

Title: Den-En-Fu

Address:  Nakaniida, Kami-gun, Miyagi

Contractor: The Architect Isamu Yoshida and Arc Hi

Dimension: W380cm × H210cm  (3 pieces)

Photographer: Sei Kawamoto

Concerning the Mayor of Nakaniida which is located in the

remote countryside，and lacks a budget for the construction of

a concert-hall，despite the mayor’s best efforts.

The architect Isamu Yoshida gave his impression in this way:

Mr. Butterfly might be called Mayor of

Nakaniida. For he is about to bear Miss Bach － Bach

Concert Hall. A friend of his told him once，suggesting that

he should go westward and he could come across a brilliant

glass artist there.

“I don’t like stained colored glass. It is found in

every church as if it belonged to kingdom of God.

The colorful light seems to me to be primitive，

peculiar to carnivores － harsh colors don’t suit our Concert

Hall.”

A friend of his admonished him，saying that the

real problem is not the color but the light itself. Together we，

Mayor and myself，went westward to see the real glass.

I was fond of Mr. Butterfly because he took time

to detect real glass，as if he were giving a red lipstick to his

beloved daughter. I came to love Miss Bach and wanted to

support the mayor all the more for his earnest efforts. We

were introduced to real glass，masses of thick cut glass which

showed not color but the light itself reflected through the cut

glass.

Mr. Butterfly stayed and stared at it， expressing

unconsciously his thought，concluding with “Nothing can be

desired more than this for Miss Bach.” And the only glass

artist in the western city appeared in the remote Nakaniida on

a day of heavy snow-fall. However，she was delighted to see

the pure-whiteness surrounding her. She could understand

very well the background of the Concert Hall，miss Bach，still

to be born and the hopes and intentions of Mr. Butterfly.

The consideration of Pure White in snow and the magic of

Bach were very impressive. She herself was said to have

studied the music of Bach.

The following spring， she appeared again in

Nakaniida with an ‘etude’ in which the gaiety and decency in

Baroque music was expressed in violet，the whiteness of the

snow in transparent glass，sharp and high cantata in dark

shading lighting. The western lady then saw the green

countryside. Together with Mr. Butterfly，I went westward

again to visit her studio. To the achieved work was added

the color of green，symbolizing the green countryside.

The work was named “Pastoral” after the green by

the lady’s Mrs. Keiko Miura and thus she gave a red lipstick

to Miss Bach.