THIS IS THE ORIGINAL BEDROOM OF MR. AND MRS. CHOUEKE. WHEN THERE WERE NO GUESTS INVITED TO DINNER, AND THAT WAS ONLY OCCASIONALLY, THE FAMILY WOULD GATHER HERE AFTER DINNER, SOME ON THE SOFA, SOME SITTING IN CHAIRS AND THE LITTLE ONES ON THE FLOOR OR ON THE BED. THIS WAS THE SCENE OF MANY HAPPY AND INTIMATE TIMES WITH DISCUSSION, SOME SINGING AND MUCH LAUGHTER.

WESTERN ARTISTS PAINTED LANDSCAPES AND PEOPLE NOT IN THE TRADITIONAL, JAPANESE MANNER, BUT MUCH LIKE THEY PAINTED PICTURES IN THEIR HOME COUNTRIES. TRADITIONAL JAPANESE PAINTING AND UKIYO-EI (PAINTINGS AND WOOD BLOCK PRINTS OF WHAT WAS KNOWN AS THE FLOATING WORLD) WERE VERY WELL SOUGHT-AFTER IN BOTH EUROPE AND AMERICA. MANY WESTERN ARTISTS TRAVELED TO JAPAN TO EXPERIENCE, FIRST-HAND, A CULTURE AND AN ESTHETIC WHICH WAS BOTH NEW AND FASCINATING TO THEM. OTHERS, WHO WOULD NOT MAKE THIS LONG TRIP, USED THEIR IMAGINATIONS TO CREATE INTERESTING PICTURES. THE MOST APPARENT DIFFERENCE IS IN PERSPECTIVE AND INTHE USE OF MATERIALS. WESTERN ARTISTS FAVOURED OIL PAINTS ON CANVAS. THE PAINTINGS THAT WERE EXECUTED IN THIS PERIOD THAT BEGINS AT THE END OF THE 19th. CENTURY AND CONTINUES THROUGH THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 20th. CENTURY.