On the day of our opening reception, March 3rd, the temperature in Montreal dipped to -30Åé, with wind chill factor plunging to -50Åé. I've never experienced anything like that. It was brutally cold that your ears, without a hat covering them, would feel so numb that you'd think they have fallen off!! At that point, I knew I was in Montreal. Those who braved through the bone-chilling weather to attend the reception, however, seemed to enjoy senga very much.

During a demonstration session, which took place at the beginning of the reception, I explained about the basic senga methods by making several samples on the spot, and answered questions involving paper-cutting techniques and rice paper. For people in Montreal (some of them confused senga with wood-block printing), senga seemed to have appeared something totally different and new.

The reception turned out to be a very valuable experience for me as well. It provided me with an opportunity to meet with many people and talk about different subjects - their favorite senga in the exhibition, the use of black and white in art, memories of Japan (surprisingly, many of the guests have previously either visited or lived in Japan), etc.

The survey that was taken during the reception revealed that senga works depicting traditional Japanese sceneries and architecture to be more popular than the others though there were those who liked everything in the exhibition. Every opinion and comment received during Montreal exhibition will be utilized to make our next international exhibition even more successful.

I am truly grateful for all the kind assistance offered by everyone at Club Sportif MAA (especially Mr. Jocelyn Robert and Ms. Elizabeth Bitar) as well as my sister Rie and her husband Patrick who live in Montreal. Thank you!