HAKUBI VISIT TO THE OFFICE OF
THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF TORONTO
THE HONOURABLE BARBARA HALL
FRIDAY 23 MAY, 1997
The Hakubi Group and its visit to the City of
Toronto got off to an early morning start with a tour of the
Parliament Buildings of the Province of Ontario, at Queen's Park.
The park which forms the land on which the parliament stands, is
named after Queen Victoria and a bronze statue of her appears on
the front lawn. The Hakubi Group had its photograph taken on the
staircase of the main foyer of the building. Displayed prominently in this area is a
painting of HRH Queen Elizabeth II,
Queen of Canada. The buildings themselves, were constructed in
the late 1880's, in Victorian Gothic style, of pink limestone
rock of Canadian origin. Each piece in the building has been hand
carved and set. A major
restoration of the Ontario Parliament
Buildings was finished in 1997.
Following their visit to the provincial seat of
government, the Hakubi Group paid a formal call on the Mayor of
the City of Toronto, in her office at the City Hall in Nathan
Phillip Square, a prominent landmark in the cityscape. Ms.
Barbara Hall was presented with a miniature set of Japanese court
attire in the layered formal style called junihitoe, by Mr.
Takayoshi Mizushima, President of the Foundation. 
Later, Mr.Mizushima posed for a
photograph, in kimono, by the figure of Sir Winston 
Churchill, which stands on the front
grounds of City Hall.
Later in the day, the Hakubi Group paid a visit
to the Royal Ontario Museum where a kicho or traditional room
divider made of pieces of fine silk stiched together, was
presented to the museum for its permanent collection by Mr.
Takayoshi Mizushima, President of the Foundation and of Hakubi,
and Mr. Shin'ichi Kumagai of the Kyoto Kimono Consultants
Association who arranged for the kicho to be made in Kyoto on
special order for this visit. 
The gift was accepted, on behalf of the
Royal Ontario Museum, by its President, and by Dr. Hugh Wylie,
Curator of the Japanese and Korean Collections, and Dr.Alexandra
Palmer, Curator of the Textile Collection.
The balmy May weather on this day made it
possible for the Hakubi Group to wear kimono to their formal
appointments. Many eyes were focused on the Hakubi Group as it
made its way along the streets of Toronto.