MASS MoCA Open Studios

Installation view of Rui Yamaguchi's open studio at MASS MoCA – a white pedestal and a heap of small blue objects on the studio floor

Open studio at MASS MoCA – wide view of the white brick room with exposed copper pipes, a white pedestal and blue objects on the floor

A thick stack of printed postcards placed on a white pedestal in the corner of the MASS MoCA studio

Interior of the MASS MoCA studio with tall windows looking onto the red brick mill buildings and a small white sculpture on a pedestal

Close-up of a hand-written postcard mounted on the white painted brick wall of the studio

Small postcards printed with national flags pinned to the studio wall beside a large window

A small metal whale-shaped object mounted on the white studio wall, referring to the whaling ship that rescued John Manjiro

During my residency at MASS MoCA, I traced how modernization, globalization, and the history of this factory intertwine, using John Manjiro (1827–1898)—the first Japanese person to live in America—as a starting point.

In 1841, a 14-year-old Manjiro was shipwrecked off Usa in Kochi. After surviving on a deserted island, he was rescued by an American whaling ship. Captain Whitfield recognized his talent, and Manjiro resolved to go to the United States, settling in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. There, he studied English and Western navigation, eventually rising to first mate on a whaling crew.

At the time, Japan was a feudal society isolated from the world for over 200 years. What moved Manjiro in America was its spirit of freedom and equality—the idea that people are judged fairly by their effort, not by their birth. Returning to Japan in 1851, he went on to teach a younger generation and thereby played a crucial role in the country’s subsequent modernization.

Two years after his return, in 1853, Commodore Perry arrived and pressured Japan to open its borders. One of the main reasons was to secure supply ports for American whaling ships (the waters around Japan were prime whaling areas).

Although Manjiro was the ideal choice for an interpreter, the shogunate suspected him of being an American spy and excluded him from the negotiations. The unequal treaties signed at this time fueled Japan’s desire to stand on equal footing with Western powers, ultimately driving its push toward imperialism and overseas expansion.

The whaling industry that saved Manjiro was an early global energy business. Over time, energy sources shifted from whale oil to petroleum, electricity, and eventually nuclear power. This very building at MASS MoCA was once a factory of Sprague Electric, a company that took part in the Manhattan Project (the development of the atomic bomb) and manufactured the capacitors used in the bomb.

After the war, the Japanese economy recovered by supplying goods and services to the U.S. military during the Korean War. Eventually, Japanese products dominated the global market, putting heavy pressure on the U.S. economy. This led to the Plaza Accord in 1985, but it was too late—Sprague Electric closed that same year. Its former site was later reborn as the MASS MoCA we know today.