In late 1961 a group of six Japanese architecture students travelled to Australia on a study tour, visiting Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney. The visit was an important early moment of cultural exchange between Japanese and Australian architects, following a University of Melbourne architectural tour of Japan earlier in 1961, organised by Brian Lewis, Dean of the Faculty. Bruce Anderson, a furniture retailer and friend of Robin and Patricia Boyd, had travelled to Japan with the Australian cohort. He subsequently accompanied the Japanese students during their trip to Melbourne, and brought the group to the Boyds’ home at Walsh Street. Boyd himself had recently returned from Japan, researching his upcoming book on Kenzo Tange. Shortly after returning to Japan one of the visiting students, Tamon Okubo, profiled Boyd’s house in the February 1962 issue of Japan Interior Design magazine (pdf). Okubo wrote to Boyd to arrange the loan and return of Mark Strizic photos to accompany the article - the published piece described the home in detail and emphasised Boyd’s affinity for Japanese design. Japanese architectural journals were popular in Australia at the time, and Boyd owned a copy of Japan Interior Design from later in 1962. In the years after the visit, this affinity would be expressed throughout the home, in particular through the Maruni chairs that Robin and Patricia bought at Anderson’s furniture showroom. Many years later, Anderson sent a note to Patricia Boyd, recalling the students’ enthusiasm for the home.