125: Kazuyo Matsuda

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

My guest this week is Kazuyo Matsuda, who is an architect, working in the UK for the last 20 years and practices the Japanese martial art of Kendo which she has been teaching for over two decades. Kazuyo talks about how Kendo, which originated in Japan in the 13th Century, was first seen in the UK at the Japanese Village in Knightsbridge built in 1885.

Kazuyo has been in the UK since 1993 and before that lived in Japan. She came to the UK initially to study Fine Art and we learn how she switched to Architecture.

She has three sisters, her father was a solicitor and her mother still lives in Japan. We learn about her memories of growing up, playing touchball and going on adventures in the days before computer games. She went to kendo twice a week with her sister and ended up sticking with it.

Kazuyo talks about how lockdown impacted her – and how the experience taught her how important exercise was. We learn that Kendo is a safe sport, relatively speaking, and how she managed to teach it online during lockdown, finding some funny ways to be inventive.

She discusses MTV and seeing Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper in concert, and also practising the piano and her love of Italian culture, as well as being a fan of The Karate Kid.

We then turn to Kazuyo’s architecture work which involves designing buildings. She is interested in the challenge in seeing what lies behind buildings and Kazuyo talks about Portmeirion where people’s memories were distorted via space. She also discusses the idea of knowing people as a building.

Kazuyo talks about how architecture has changed since it became possible to build 3D models using a computer and she speaks about how she thinks theory and practice need to merge.

We learn about her earliest memories and how memories play an important role in architecture and dreams, and we talk about negative experiences, e.g. relating to sad childhood experiences and the need for longing, including connecting with people with whom we are no longer in the same physical space.

Then, at the end of the interview Kazuyo talks about learning to make the future better via revisiting the past.

Please note: Opinions expressed are solely those of Chris Deacy and Kazuyo Matsuda and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of Kent.