The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) Library is pleased to announce the upcoming Book Break event on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.

Book Break: Antonin Raymond in Japan 1948-1976: Recollections of Friends
By Helena Čapková
Tuesday, November 19, 2024, from 5:45 pm to 8:30 pm
(The talk will be in English)

https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/book-break-helena-capkova-author-antonin-raymond-japan-1948-1976-recollections-friends

Please sign up by email (front@fccj.or.jp) and pay by Thursday, November 14, 2024. .

Admission:
3,000 yen for members, 4,000 yen for non-members.
550 yen (Online attendance via zoom)
No cancellations after November 16.

Schedule:
Doors open at 5:45 pm with a casual "meet the author: cocktail time"
Dinner will be served from 6:30 pm.
The talk begins at 7:15 pm.

Menu:
Caesar Salad, Sautéed White Fish Dry Tomato & Olive Sauce, Bread, Dessert, Coffee/Tea and One beverage of choice (orange juice, oolong tea, red or white wine, beer).

A vegetarian option is available, please inform the club of food restrictions when reserving.

Venue:
The Foreign Correspondents` Club of Japan
5F Marunouchi Nijubashi Building
3-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005
(https://www.fccj.or.jp/article/access-contact)


Antonin and Noémi Raymond accompanied Frank Lloyd Wright to Tokyo in 1919 to work on the now-legendary Imperial Hotel, and essentially never left. With the exception of the war years, they made their home in Tokyo for over four decades, running one of the most dynamic, influential architecture firms in history. The Raymonds created more than 400 designs and greatly impacted modern Japanese architecture through their own work and that of such significant figures as Junzo Yoshimura and Kunio Maekawa, whom they employed. Raymond has been credited with fusing Japanese traditional architecture with contemporary design, leading directly to Japan's great mid-century building boom and its continued stature in the global architectural arena.

The new book by historian Helena Čapková, Antonin Raymond in Japan 1948-1976: Recollections of Friends, is the long-awaited English translation of the widely heralded 2020 publication that originally appeared in Czech and Japanese. A valuable record of architectural history and transnational practices, it is richly illustrated and includes essays and the recorded recollections of seven prominent members of the Raymond Studio in Japan, who recall their years with the great Czech American architect and his French-born American designer wife as they worked to rebuild Japan upon the ruins of World War II.

Researching archival material in the Czech Republic, Japan and America, Čapková brings a fresh, more inclusive perspective to the architectural studio, expanding our understanding of Antonin's (1888-1976) and Noémi's (1889-1980) legacy in postwar Japan and the collaborative process that underpins the Raymonds' pioneering practice.

Helena Čapková is an Associate Professor of Art History at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto. She has published extensively on the transnational entanglements and intersections between Czech and Japanese designers in the early part of the 20th century. Her curatorial practice has resulted in exhibitions in Japan, the US and Czech Republic, including "Bedřich Feuerstein, Architect: Prague - Paris - Tokyo" (National Technical Museum, 2021-2022).

Doors open at 5:45pm with a casual "meet the author/cocktail time" from 6:00pm. Dinner will be served from 6:30pm and the talk begins at 7:15pm. The menu is Caesar Salad, Sautéed White Fish Dry Tomato & Olive Sauce, Bread, Dessert, Coffee/Tea and One beverage of choice (orange juice, oolong tea, red or white wine, beer). A vegetarian option is available. Please inform the club of food restrictions when reserving. Price: 3,000 yen for members, 4,000 yen for non-members.

The member reservation deadline is 2 pm November 19, non-members must reserve and pay by November 14, 2024.

Online attendance (Zoom) is available by reservation at 550 yen per person.

No cancellations after November 16.

Library, Archives & Workroom Committee
The Foreign Correspodents' Club of Japan (FCCJ)