The Japanese Legacy Symposium & Grand Tour

[Mischa Verhage]

Thanks for sharing guys. It.s nice to see it all back again.

[Jo Anseeuw]

Some pictures from the amazing Daimyo exhibition in Paris. The items are distributed over 3 locations, all in walking distance.
Mr. Charbonnier was so kind to arrange an early entrance for our group so we could visit the exhibition before it went open for the public.

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[Laurent Gregoire]

That looked so nice! Too bad I could not be there...
I really need to manage to be present for the next one...

[Mark Albert]

Thank you to Everyone who put such Huge Efforts in to make this Happen. John Said it the Best..."What an absolutely mind-blowing, awe-inspiring, unforgettable experience!" Amazing.....Never to be Forgotten!
and So nice to see Everyone Too!
My pics from Day one.....

[John Wee Tom]

Awesome shots, Mark!

[Mischa Verhage]

Very sharp pics. Thanks Mark. It was good to see you again!

[Mischa Verhage]

Best friends,

Seeing these photos makes me happy every time.
I would like to share the following with you, what this symposium has done to me. It's quite personal but very special for me.

Last January, macular degeneration has been diagnosed with me.
I have become blind in many places at both eyes.
The question is how long it will take for the central view to disappear.
That can happen within a year, so to speak. There is no treatment possible so my future is certain, but how fast it goes is the question.

My life had become loose sand. All the motivations in my life were worth nothing. The only thing that still matters to me is the core, my girlfriend and friendliness with friends. I would like to see as much as possible of the world before the vision disappears completely.

I wanted to sell my collection, sell house, stop hobbies because the motivations behind them were suddenly no longer important.
We all have a beautiful and special book collection. I also have a beautiful collection that I have collected for when I retire, that I can read them all again.
Now I can be happy if I can read a book after a year because reading is now already difficult for me because I can not read sentences in its entirety anymore.

My dream was that I could also get a pair of beautiful armor in the future, beautiful in a room. I even bought a house with a great room for it. The question is whether I can still experience it.

When you experience something like that in life, your life changes completely. I just want to have fun with friends. For me, that is the most important motivation at this moment in my life. Every day I want really consciously experience it now, no longer on autopilot. It should be meaningful and I would like to take pleasure from it when it is still possible, every day. I am in a hurry now.

Then came this symposium, perhaps my last one so I had to experience it well. This was just when I touched the ground in life, looking for new meaning in life, looking for all the motivations for what I do. That is the question in life, why do we do the things we do?

This symposium was really overwhelming for me. I can not really express in words how good this symposium has been to me, what a great pleasure I have had. See all old friends again and get to know new friends. Laughing together, having lunch together, traveling together to the next museum, showing each other pictures of each other's collection, dining together, drinking and laughing, making deals, making nefarious plans, serious conversations about our joint hobby, enjoying beautiful places together, the taxi score with each other in beautiful cities, Paris was also fantastic. I even sat with Fred in his cool car, flying over the roads of Paris! Believe me, the roller coaster is nothing, great! Are the ball bearings still okay Fred? What a great time I have had.
I know that the social aspect of this all is very important for me, it is part of my hobby of collecting. Without this social part, the collecting is less nice, for me.

Your friendship and the whole symposium really gave me joy in this hobby again and I sincerely hope that it stays nice and that we can keep on finding eachother. That is the most important thing in life people. Enjoy it, it sounds cliché and it is theoretical until you wake up, then you really do it.

With Richard I had a conversation before the symposium, I told him that I wanted to sell everything. I honestly no longer understood why I had all those "things". He said jokingly, maybe after this symposium you will just collect again. Richard, you were right you old basterd hahahaha!

Dear friends, I am very, very grateful to you from the bottom of my heart, for your sociability, friendship and just being together. Maybe I sound like an old lady but it is the truth.... The symposium was super top!

Let's all have a lot of fun with each other.

Domo arregato gozaimasu!
Mischa

[Jan Pettersson]

Hi Mischa!
I’m really sad to learn about your situation. It’s strange how life sometime takes you for a spin in the wrong direction. Amongst all this unpleasantness thats been going on lately, it’s posts like this that put things into perspective. Respect and friendship is what it’s all about. I remember a few years ago when you and I was walking amongst the Stibbert collection trying to identify Saotome helmets. Everytime we got one right we were happy like small children. It’s moment like that which you bring with you for a long time.
The love for Japanese history and culture brought us together and I’m sure it will continue to do so in the future.
If you feel like talking to a fellow ”samurai-freak” I’m only a mail/phonecall away.
Stay strong Mischa and remember one thing; people or situations in life can only bring you down if you allow them to.

Jan

[Luc Taelman]

Thank you for your kind words Mischa! It costed us a lot of our scarce free time, but it was worth every minute we invested in it. Never forget Mischa, you have friends allover this world.

[Massimo Borgnis]

Dear Mischa,

I am so sad to hear about your condition, but I am also releived by the courage and the positive approach your are taking in handling this difficult moment. I am grateful also that with your heart felt words (echoed by Jan’s) you are expressing the feelings of many of us who are maybe lesser actors (for welth, knowledge or just simply for shyness) on the big stage of katchu, but enjoy and cherish, learning in company of fellows. I also echo Jan’s invite: any time you need just a chat call me, and when you come to Italy, as I told you in the past, drop by in Milano. Your girfriend will have a day shopping around and we will have fun in more ...japanese ways.
Massimo