For 4,500 individuals of forty nationalities

Shigeharu Matsumoto

On October 5, 1982, the International House of Japan celebrated the 30th anniversary of its founding in Tokyo. More than 100 distinguished intellectuals and government and business leaders, all interested in the work of international cultural exchange, were present.

On that occasion, three American friends were our special guest: Blanchette  Rockefeller, representing her late husband John D Rockefeller, 3rd, Donald H McLean,Jr. and Martha, his wife.

The International House of Japan was incorporated under Japanese law on August 27, 1952, as a private organization devoted to the cause of international cultural and academic exchange. For the preceding ten months, a Cultural Center Preparatory Committee, with me as executive secretary, worked hard to find and acquire premises, deliberate on the legal format, devise a program of international cultural exchange, and prepare the financial bases for bringing it about. John D. Rockefeller and Don McLean, his chief associate, came to Tokyo in the autumn of 1951 and again the following spring for the discussions with me and the late professor Yasaka Takagi, my mentor.

Don and I were destined to meet almost every day. We had some twenty close discussions before we finally drafted our initial application to the Rockefeller Foundation for a grant. The planned cultural center, later named the International House of Japan, was something completely new to this country. The Japanese members of the Preparatory Committee were unanimous in insisting that the center must have its own premises, while the Rockefeller Foundation was resolute in rejecting any kind of grant application that included acquisition of real estate. The Foundation had been generous in making grants to universities, as well as the Diet Library, and naturally was particular about the kinds of application would consider. Meeting the requirements of the Foundation on one hand and the express advice of the Japanese committee members on the other, Don and I worked it out by mutual agreement as to the desired land and then secured its purchase. We of course had countless other problems to resolve before eventually agreeing on every point. At length, on May 31, 1953, Don left Tokyo with our application for a grant to the Rockefeller Foundation.

During these discussions, I found Don McLean a person of patience, of foresight, of warm sentiment and shining character. After this initial work was done, Don continued to be deeply interested in the development of the International House, even after he was no longer associated with Rockefeller. Our friendship continued, even deepened, after he became president of the Leahy Clinic Foundation. He was guardian for my son Ken when he was a student at Swarthmore; he was also guardian for my daughter Misao when she was a student at Vassar.

In my office, I have a magnificent picture of Don that greets me every day. I have been affiliated with the International House now for thirty three years. A day rarely passes that I do not think of Don and his friendship and many American friends I value none above him.

The International House of Japan, which in a real sense he help to make, is now well-established. Its membership numbers above 4,500 individuals of 40 nationalities. Its annual budget exceeds ¥1 billion, with income and expenditures in good balance. For a long time to come we shall remember the name of Donald H McLean, Jr. and his distinguished contribution to this organization

Shigeharu Matsumoto, was the principle Japanese citizen involved in the founding of the International House of Japan. An international journalist, lawyer, writer, and executive, he served as the first managing director of the International House.