Letter from Ambassador - Dr. Hugo Halberstadt and the brims (“Tsuba”) of Japanese swords
2021/2/26
Dear Friends,
I hope that this letter finds you well.
Denmark in February was going through a real winter. Walking around the pond in neighborhood, I saw children and their parents enjoy skating on ice. Every lake and port were frozen for some days. One such a cold day this month, I had the pleasure to revisit Denmark Design Museum to see Ms. Anne-Louise Sommer, Director of the museum.
There is a fine collection of Japanese swords’ ornament, brims (“Tsuba” in Japanese) at the museum. The story began in 1943. Dr. Hugo Halberstadt (1867-1945), a Jewish Danish doctor donated his whole collection of 1,719 pieces of “Tsuba” from Japanese Edo-period (17-19th centuries) to Denmark Design Museum. He hoped that these treasures would be well preserved by the museum as he had been afraid that Nazi persecution was approaching him.
Dr. Halberstadt was born in Copenhagen in 1867 in a family dealing with wholesale. He had not visited Japan, however he was so fascinated by the design of Japanese swords’ “Tsuba” and frequently went out for auctions in Europe, thus collected the items. Every time he purchased “Tsuba”, he wrote down background of the work in a beautiful writing occasionally adding Japanese words and sketch. Design Museum has carefully kept this historic archive, what may be called “Halberstadt Note”.
Dr. Halberstadt fled to Sweden from Denmark without being caught by Nazis after depositing his collection to Design Museum. He escaped through a normal route without being helped by the fishermen of Gilleleje in North Zealand in Denmark, who assisted escape of thousands of Jewish by hundreds of fishing boats during the war time. He remained in Sweden after the war and ended his life there at the age of 78.
This reminds me of another story of fleeing Jewish during the wartime, “Visas for Life” by Mr. SUGIHARA Chiune, a Japanese diplomat. At the Japanese Consulate General in Kaunas, Lithuania, Mr. SUGIHARA issued thousands of visas and helped them escape from Europe. There are SUGIHARA survivors, their children and grandchildren who remain thankful for Mr. SUGIHARA’s actions. On 27 January, International Holocaust Remembrance Day this year, Mr. MOTEGI Toshimitsu, Foreign Minister of Japan and Mr. Gabrielius LANDSBERGIS, Foreign Minister of Lithuania jointly contributed an article to Jerusalem Post to pay tribute to the act of Mr. SUGIHARA Chiune and to pray for world peace.
At the Israeli Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem, both people of Denmark and SUGIHARA Chiune are honored respectively as “Righteous Among the Nations” for their rescues of Jewish people at different places during the wartime.
As I stood in front of “Tsuba” at Design Museum under renovation, I thought that these “Tsuba” must have disappeared somewhere if there had not been Dr Holberstadt’s good will and the decision. 80 years have passed since the Nazi occupation of Denmark since 1941. Japanese swords’ “Tsuba” have survived through turbulent history in this part of the world thanks to the good protection provided by Design Museum. The visitors to the museum have increased five-hold in the past six years. “Tsuba” have been part of the permanent exhibition and seen by so many visitors. As I wrote in my letter in July 2020, one day we would like to realize a temporary return of “Tsuba” to Japan so that even more people will see a part of the collection of Design Museum.
As cold weather remains still, I wish you well.
I hope that this letter finds you well.
Denmark in February was going through a real winter. Walking around the pond in neighborhood, I saw children and their parents enjoy skating on ice. Every lake and port were frozen for some days. One such a cold day this month, I had the pleasure to revisit Denmark Design Museum to see Ms. Anne-Louise Sommer, Director of the museum.
There is a fine collection of Japanese swords’ ornament, brims (“Tsuba” in Japanese) at the museum. The story began in 1943. Dr. Hugo Halberstadt (1867-1945), a Jewish Danish doctor donated his whole collection of 1,719 pieces of “Tsuba” from Japanese Edo-period (17-19th centuries) to Denmark Design Museum. He hoped that these treasures would be well preserved by the museum as he had been afraid that Nazi persecution was approaching him.
Dr. Halberstadt was born in Copenhagen in 1867 in a family dealing with wholesale. He had not visited Japan, however he was so fascinated by the design of Japanese swords’ “Tsuba” and frequently went out for auctions in Europe, thus collected the items. Every time he purchased “Tsuba”, he wrote down background of the work in a beautiful writing occasionally adding Japanese words and sketch. Design Museum has carefully kept this historic archive, what may be called “Halberstadt Note”.
This reminds me of another story of fleeing Jewish during the wartime, “Visas for Life” by Mr. SUGIHARA Chiune, a Japanese diplomat. At the Japanese Consulate General in Kaunas, Lithuania, Mr. SUGIHARA issued thousands of visas and helped them escape from Europe. There are SUGIHARA survivors, their children and grandchildren who remain thankful for Mr. SUGIHARA’s actions. On 27 January, International Holocaust Remembrance Day this year, Mr. MOTEGI Toshimitsu, Foreign Minister of Japan and Mr. Gabrielius LANDSBERGIS, Foreign Minister of Lithuania jointly contributed an article to Jerusalem Post to pay tribute to the act of Mr. SUGIHARA Chiune and to pray for world peace.
At the Israeli Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem, both people of Denmark and SUGIHARA Chiune are honored respectively as “Righteous Among the Nations” for their rescues of Jewish people at different places during the wartime.
As I stood in front of “Tsuba” at Design Museum under renovation, I thought that these “Tsuba” must have disappeared somewhere if there had not been Dr Holberstadt’s good will and the decision. 80 years have passed since the Nazi occupation of Denmark since 1941. Japanese swords’ “Tsuba” have survived through turbulent history in this part of the world thanks to the good protection provided by Design Museum. The visitors to the museum have increased five-hold in the past six years. “Tsuba” have been part of the permanent exhibition and seen by so many visitors. As I wrote in my letter in July 2020, one day we would like to realize a temporary return of “Tsuba” to Japan so that even more people will see a part of the collection of Design Museum.
As cold weather remains still, I wish you well.
| Yours sincerely, |
| MIYAGAWA Manabu |
| The Embassy of Japan |