On February 6th, Francis Lemery, lifelong Kansas City resident, former actuary for Kansas City Life, and a longtime, ardent, and tireless promoter of Japan-America relations, was awarded the Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation at a ceremony at the Heart of America Japan America Society's Shinnenkai, or New Year Dinner. The Commendation, signed by Japan's Foreign Minister himself, Mr. Hirofumi Nakasone, states,
Your contribution to the friendship between our country and the rest of the world through your proactive effort to promote mutual understanding between Japan and the United States of America is outstanding.
I pay you my deepest respect and commend you.
The honor came as no surprise to the many Kansans, Midwesterners, and Americans who have for years known Mr. Lemery as an active and integral part of Japan-Midwest relations. At various points over the last twenty years, Mr. Lemery, or "Fran" to his friends, has been a five-term president of the Heart of America Japan America Society, a Midwestern representative for the National Association of Japan America Societies, a driving force behind the construction of a Japanese garden and tea room in Kansas City's Loose Park, and, for the last several years, the executive director of the Greater Kansas City Japan Festival.
The e-Japan Journal recently had the delightful opportunity to interview Mr. Lemery about his commendation, his interest in Japanese gardening (he and his wife, Charlene, have built a full-scale Japanese garden on their property), and his many years of dedicated service.
e-Japan Journal: What sparked your interest in Japan?
Francis Lemery: Well, Charlene, my wife, is American, and she always liked Japanese culture. And so in the early ‘90s we were in Australia, and decided to take a side trip to Japan. She came home and decided she wanted a small Japanese garden on our patio. I said no (laughs). I really didn’t garden at the time. But Charlene always has good ideas, so we put in a small garden in 1995. It was designed by Ben Oki. He grew up in Hiroshima, was there in 1945, in fact, and he’s a world-renowned bonsai and garden master, and he travels all over the world designing gardens. In fact, Ben’s a close friend, so I’ve been with him to Japan 5 times, 3 times with my wife.
So that’s what started it all, a desire for a Japanese garden, and now a lot of the interior of our home is Japanese style, too. I’ve designed most of it. And now I’m a master gardener, really, with a K-State Johnson County extension office, big time into Japanese culture and promoting it.
EJJ: What was it like when you learned that you’d be receiving this honor?
FL: I was very surprised, extremely humbled, and honored to be recognized in such a way. I hadn’t even heard of the commendation. I know we have some awards in Kansas City for people involved in promoting the culture here, but I really wasn’t aware of the Japanese government award. I didn’t shoot for awards or commendations or anything, I just loved using my business experience and knowledge (I worked at Kansas City Life for 40 years as an actuary), and I tried to put my business skills to use promoting Japan and its culture here.
I did know that the people from Kurashiki had probably mentioned my name to the Japanese government at some point, but I had no idea that I would be honored in such a way!
EJJ: Which of your many achievements are you most proud of?
FL: I have to list three (laughs).
I have to list my five years as president of the Heart of America Japan America Society. What I tried to do there was; it was kind of a dying organization. The previous year, four people had shared the presidency. So I tried to elevate the Society, and felt that I made tremendous strides in getting more people active and involved. This was important, I think, because the Society does such great work, and brings so many people to Japanese culture, so I’m proud to have been a part of that.
Second is my tour, which is ongoing, as first the co-executive director, with Dr. Andrew Tsubaki, and then by myself, of the Greater Kansas City Japan Festival. I am so happy with its growth. It has grown from attendance of under 2000, to 4800 attendees last year. So that to me is a real achievement that through my business skills I grew that and expanded the offerings. And thank goodness for the Johnson County Community College that provides so much support, brings the performers, and builds the festival year after year.
The other event was the 2007 event, well, the Kurashiki mayor came to Kansas City a couple years before that, and said he wanted to bring 500 people to Kansas City to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of our sister city partnership. It was a great idea, but I said, “He’ll never even get fifty people to come!” But sure enough, in 2007, they brought 500 people from Kurashiki to Kansas City for a week of events. And I hired a local event planner, and was a lead between Kurashiki and Kansas City to pull that humongous event off. That has to be at the top because of all the great people I met from Kurashiki who have become my lifelong friends. When I go to Japan now, I always spend time with them.
So you can see why I can’t choose what I’m proudest of! Those three organizations, the Heart of America Society, the Japan Fest, and the Sister City relationship, they’ve been so much fun to work with and for, and they’ve all been valuable in different ways.
EJJ: Looking forward, what are your plans for the future of the Kansas City-Kurashiki relationship, or, more generally, your relationship with Japan?
FL: My focus is going to be on growing and growing the Greater Kansas City Japan Fest. There’s a need for that in Kansas City, that kind of event. We’re getting a lot of word of mouth, and making a lot of advertising, to try and show that [the Japan Festival] is someplace you should go in September and October.
Another focus is to support James Kanki and his work as president of the Heart of America Japan America Society in growing the relationship with Kurashiki.
Other things, I attended in October and November 2008 an international Japanese gardening seminar at Kyoto University of Art and Design. I met a lot of people throughout the world interested in Japanese gardens. Promoting the Japanese garden in Kansas City is another focus that I will pursue. We put in a Japanese garden at Loose Park in Kansas City, that’s the Kurashiki garden and tea room.
In fact, now I’m working with Johnson County Community College on putting another garden in their campus. They’ve asked me to be a consultant, so we’ll continue to pursue that.
Another thing that I think is extra important for local Japan America Societies and festivals like ours, where we have a limited number of Japanese people in the area, is relations with the National Association of Japan America Societies. We’ve continued to use that relationship to help us grow our societies and to grow the festival. I was on a subcommittee in DC to help model running festivals and societies around the US, and I intend to keep that relationship going.
EJJ: Finally, do you have any advice or words of wisdom about Japan-America relations that you'd like to give to readers of the e-Japan Journal?
FL: The relationship between Japan and the US is critical. It is a crucial relationship, they’re two great countries and we need to promote the understanding of the two cultures both by working in the US and with Japan. Fortunately we have the relationship with Kurashiki and can work on promoting American culture there and promoting the Japanese culture in Kansas City. It may be difficult, you may not have the resources you need, but it’s a worthwhile thing to do, to expand what we do in Kansas City to promote the culture. To promote the innovative; that is one thing I think I’m good at: how can we move forward, what can we do to make it better. Don’t take no for an answer. Find a way to do it. If I want to do something, I’m not going to step on your toes or anything, but if I feel it’s worthwhile, I’m going to find a way to get it done. Just be innovative. There’s always a way to find a way to do something. Keep pushing forward.
And you know what? I’m having a great time doing it. This has become a second career for me, and I love it.
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