In the middle of 50's, I saw an unresistible inflow of Western Culture, mostly it of American, over devastated bank by World War II. On the other hand, I witnessed a fade of our culture, passed on us through generations. As I watched the change, I felt a sense of fear that our next generation might not know what their ancestors had created and achieved. This was why I started collecting the antique wares, which represented their wisdom , and dreaming of a house to display them in public.
Later, I began to concentrate collecting mainly on decorative porcelain, with assists of knowledgeable antique collectors. In 1987 Toguri Museum was approved as a juridical foundation and built after the land where a feudal domain of Nabeshima, known as the finest producing porcelain district in Kyushu, had their premises. Now the museum is highly acclaimed, not only in Japan but in the world, as one of the most significant museum with its quality of the old Oriental porcelain.
I thank for people who made my dream possible, and I hope the museum helps us to look over and appreciate the past, of which I dreamed fifty years ago.
Tohru Toguri