This finding aid is made available for public use following the Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons designation.
1930
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
This small collection contains two letters: one from Ruth Stern to her family in which she discusses various experiences as an American new to Japan and introduces Aisaku Hayashi. The letter is written on Imperial Hotel stationary and is dated August 25, 1930. In her correspondence to her family, she encloses the second letter in the collection, a short letter from Aisaku Hayashi to Stern dated August 22, 1930. In the letter, Hayashi discusses his view on Japanese people and details an anecdote about his time as manager of the Imperial Hotel.
Source of acquisition--Robin Lynn. Method of acquisition--Donated;; Date of acquisition--2016?. Accession number--2016.018.
Aisaku Hayashi was general manager of the Imperial Hotel (Tokyo, Japan). Hayashi was introduced to Frank Lloyd Wright in 1911 by art collector Frederick W. Gookin. This meeting eventually led to Wright receiving the 1916 commission to design the Imperial Hotel. By 1930, Hayashi was director of the Koshien Hotel in Nishinomiya, Japan.