In 1995, Prince Hotels opened the Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza adjacent to the Karuizawa Prince Hotel, and Galerie Adeka opened the Gallery Vins de France as one of its 29 stores.Tsutsumi Yoshiaki, one of the richest men in the world at the time and owner of the Seibu Group, also visited the plaza.Tsutsumi had collected paintings by artists who were popular in Japan at the time, such as Buffet, Brasilier, Cathelin, and Cassignol, and displayed them in Prince Hotels around the country.
In 1994, Shinagawa Prince Hotel opened a new wing (currently the main tower). The building had stained glass by French painter Cassignol made, and the tableware was also printed with Cassignol's paintings by Noritake. Prior to the opening, an exhibition of Cassignol's works was held in the hotel's banquet hall.
I knew Cassignol personally and had taken over the Gallery Prince, which had previously been run by Seibu Shoji, so I helped out a little as an interpreter.
Afterwards, the opening party was broadcast on TV, and top idols of the time, such as Yasuko Sawaguchi and Yoko Minamino, attended the party. After all, from 1987 to 1994, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi and Mori Taikichirou Mori of Mori Building dominated the top of Forbes magazine's world rich list every year. It was a lavish party.
There is a reason why Yoshiaki Tsutsumi acquired French paintings. His sister, Kuniko Tsutsumi, had divorced and was living permanently in Paris. She was the representative of Seibu Department Store's Paris office and was promoting French culture and art in Japan. She introduced the painters, who had become famous in Japan, to Yoshiaki Tsutsumi.
Michel Henry, a contracted artist of our company, was a painter of the American Findlay Gallery, which had its main store in New York and branches in Paris and London, until the early 1990s, and was mainly active in France and the United States rather than Japan. After that, in 1995, our company, Galerie Adeka, made a contract with Michel Henry and held exhibitions throughout Japan.
According to Michel Henry, Kuniko Tsutsumi's Paris home was decorated with paintings by Michel Henry, and she was said to have been an elegant woman who spoke fluent French.
Since the Meiji era, Japan has continued to lead the way in Asia, catching up with the rest of the world at the end of the 20th century and enjoying a brief period of glory. However, while the world has since accelerated its change, Japan has not liked change and has continued to sink in the global market. However, now that we are approaching the second corner of the 21st century, perhaps it is time for it to get up and take on new challenges.