Written on June 7, 1989 [Permalink]

June 1

An interesting day ... 6 English classes ... and two phone calls asking for interviews! A Mr. Takahashi from 'Foto' magazine called and set up the 9th to come round. A woman from the 'Tokyo Journal' also phoned. She had seen the note in the Japan Times, and thought that it looked interesting for them as well. She didn't have anybody who could come out, and asked if I could visit and 'show my stuff'. We set up an appointment for next Tuesday, at their office in Tokyo.

Zipped over to Chujitsuya before the afternoon classes, and picked up the two enlargments. Semi Maru [1-4] is perfect; all the fine lines are clear, and the eyes are totally open. Dainagon Tsunenobu [1-3] is less than perfect. I think the negative is perhaps not focussed properly, as the eyes are barely distinguishable, and all the lines are a little blurred.

June 2

Tried four or five copy machines around town, to see which one would do the best job of reproducing these enlargements. The machine at Tokiwa-do did the best (not so good!) job, and I made the hanshita for Tsunenobu, and pasted it down on the block. Before I stuck it down, I moved the lines of the poem into a different arrangement from Shunsho's original layout. Some of his arrangements are perfect, some are less so, and some are downright strange. In the book format, it doesn't seem so important, but as single sheet prints, each design must stand alone, and I will be 'fixing' many of them.

1 1/2 hours of carving in the afternoon, before starting translation and English classes. Of course, just as always, difficult to get going. This one shouldn't take too long, as there are neither masses of hair, nor vast areas of kimono patterns to deal with.

A batch of paper arrived today from Yamaguchi-san. I had actually asked for the next shipment to be sent around the middle of July, to try and postpone the expense, but I guess he thought that sooner would be better ... Ah well, it's 'only' ¥36,000.

June 3

1 1/2 hours in the afternoon, before going to Fussa for classes. A nice surprise waiting when I got home. A small package arrived from Matsuzaki-san ... a gift of two new brushes. They are both beautifully soft, absolutely incredible. I can't bear to think about getting them dirty! Both Michiyo and I are amazed at the softness, and it drives home just how poor my own equipment is ... It's frustrating to think of the thousands of dollars that is passing through my hands every month, all being used up just keeping our heads above water ...

June 4

Sunday, so off to the library with the kids, etc... 6 hours in the afternoon - with plenty of breaks for my legs! Just as with Ono no Komachi, I'm starting the carving with the kimono patterns. With Tenji Tenno I saved them for last, and they drove me crazy with the incessant repetition. Getting them over with at the beginning seems to be the best way. I'm saving the poem for last, as by then I should be back up to whatever level I reached before. If this project does take off, I would presumably be doing some carving and printing on any given day, thus keeping both skills in top shape.

June 5

About 9 hours on the block, or should I say blocks, as I prepared another hanshita and pasted it down on the back of the original block. This is for the thinner lines of the print: the face, hand, and geometric kimono pattern. By putting these on a separate block, I hope to be able to print them lightly, while still keeping the lines on the main block strong and black.

June 6

Off to visit the Tokyo Journal. A bit of a bust, as it turns out that they are looking for an illustrator, not a feature topic. Their issue next month is all about jazz, and they wanted to use Ono no Komachi for the cover - with a saxophone in her hand ... After we, uh, discussed that idea for a while, they brought up the possibility of doing a story on me and my stuff. David Benjamin, the editor, seems for it, but wants to wait until I have a larger body of completed work. I should contact them again towards the end of the year ...

Stopped by the Toyo Bunko and placed the order for the balance of the book to be photographed. Also visited Takahashi Co. to pay for the last film and discuss this next order.

When I got home, a complimentary copy of the Nishi Tama Shimbun was waiting. Arai-san seems to have got most of the story correct, and it's a readable little article. Unfortunately, there's no phone number or address listed, so I don't know if we will get any specific benefit, but it's interesting none the less.

In the evening, a phone call from a Margaret Price at the Mainichi Newspaper. They are going to run the story by Mr. Oda resulting from last month's interview, and she wanted to check some points. She seemed especially interested in the subscription idea, and was quite concerned that she get it right. She says she will be faxing a copy before they run it, so that I can confirm the accuracy. Sounds great!

June 8

After the ladies class in the morning, prepared a few sheets of paper for tomorrow's interview, and in the evening, after the last class, printed the sumi ban. Botched it. What should I expect, after 13 hours of English classes and preparation ... I don't think it matters much, as presumably they will just want to see the motions, etc. ...

During the ladies class this morning, they mentioned seeing the newspaper article. I assumed them to be referring to the Nishi Tama Shimbun, but it turned out that they were talking about the Yomiuri article, which was in this morning's issue!