Tree authentic, thanks to local woman

By Stephanie Bertholdo Acorn Staff Writer

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn PUTTING IT TOGETHER-Kayo Matsumoto, right, works on a bow made out of a kimono belt while decorating the Japanese Christmas tree at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

After moving from Japan to Agoura Hills last December, Michael Thompson and his wife, Kayo Matsumoto, never dreamed that they were destined to correct a cultural misconception about Christmas in Japan here in the United States.

While visiting last season’s "Christmas Around the World" exhibit at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, the couple was shocked to find the library had misrepresented Japanese culture on several fronts.

"When we got to the Japan tree exhibit, we were both very shocked," Thompson said. "The tree and the explanatory plaque accompanying it was filled with incredible cultural errors and misrepresentations about Japan."

"The ornaments on the tree were not Japanese at all," explained Matsumoto. "They were Chinese, Korean, many mixed up Asian ornaments and knick knacks hanging on the tree," she said.

"The descriptions of Japanese Christmas customs were totally untrue," Matsumoto added. She explained that the library’s information piece said that Japanese children believe in a Santa Claus who has eyes in the back of his head. Not true. The tree ornaments weren’t symbolic of Japanese culture either. Many ornaments depicted carp, a type of fish. "We eat fish, but we don’t hang fish on the Christmas tree," Matsumoto said.

Matsumoto added that reindeer aren’t associated with Christmas in Japan either, another inaccuracy observed at the library. The crane, she said, is a traditional symbol of Japan since it’s the country’s national bird.

Even the dates on which Japan celebrates Christmas had to be corrected at the museum. Matsumoto said that the information presented to the public said that Christmas is celebrated on Jan. 20 in Japan. Matsumoto explained that Christmas is celebrated over a three-day period along with the New Year from Jan. 1 through 3.

Offended by the inaccuracies, the couple vented their frustration in a letter to Lou Anne Missildine, curator of the Reagan Library. Much to their delight, Missildine was responsive to their concerns and asked the couple to contribute their cultural expertise for a more accurate representation in this year’s Christmas exhibit.

Further investigation by Thompson and Matsumoto revealed that Reagan Library officials couldn’t find a local Japanese cultural group to contribute to the project and therefore left the tree decorating to volunteers.

The Agoura couple acted upon Missildine’s suggestion immediately, and by January, they were planning an aesthetically beautiful and culturally accurate Christmas tree.

Thompson and Matsumoto traveled to Japan and purchased all of the proper materials to construct the ornaments. Matsumoto said that in addition to recycling her mother’s old kimono into ornaments, she bought traditional kimono fabric and origami papers and created more than 250 ornaments from scratch.

"There is no such thing as Japanese Christmas tree ornaments," Matsumoto explained. "We decorate in the Western style with stockings and gift boxes," she noted. She explained that the ornaments she created for the library’s "Christmas Around the World" exhibit were more in keeping with her country’s new year’s celebration.

"The Thompson’s have been very helpful in bringing our Japanese Christmas tree into reality," Missildine said. "Kayo is extremely talented. She designed the ornaments and brought them to show me what she created. She and other Japanese women from the Conejo Valley crafted them and brought them to the library to decorate the Japanese Christmas tree. Besides being beautiful, the tree is authentic in Japanese tradition and culture, with origami and other decorations that are all handmade," she said.

Although the library offered to pay for the creation of the Japanese Christmas ornaments, Thompson and Matsumoto decided to absorb the cost. They consider their work a donation to the Reagan Library.

Matsumoto, a professional designer, said that she plans on updating the tree at the library each year. In addition to crane ornaments, she said that she’ll design cherry and plum flower ornaments and treasure boxes—all in the Japanese style.

The "Christmas Around the World" exhibit opened this week and will run through the season until Jan. 5.