It’s strange to think that during WWII Japanese midget subs came into Sydney Harbour attempting to torpedo the USS Chicago. Now we line up for Ramen, which has a devotion bordering on the religious. Today Sushi bars outnumber bank branches. Foe is now friend. This is my response to our relationship with Japan; interpreting the patterns of ‘Seigaiha’ (symbolising peace) as a matcha sea and ‘Sakura’ (transience) encircling a scene of its cultural presence in contemporary Australia.