Written on July 31, 1989 [Permalink]

July 26

Sent off the prints to Katagiri and Moriwake. If I understand their brochure correctly, the Post Office offers a pick-up service for these kind of parcels. We'll have to start using it! (we'll definitely qualify for their 10+ discount of 20% as well).

Noticed a little item in the Japan Times the other day involving a Mr. Inami, who is billed as the 'Managing Director for Cultural Affairs' of Suntory Ltd. It concerned their sponsorship of an art production of some kind. Hmmm... Sent off a sample print of Ono no Komachi, and a covering letter inviting his comments and contact.

July 27

During the ladies class, a phone call came from a Mr. Sasaki, in Hakodate, Hokkaido. I didn't do so well with the 'Nihongo', and it was quite a frustrating conversation. In any case, I got his number, and Michiyo called back later in the day. He wants to go. Nine!

Made a phone call to Kogado, the case maker, and (gulp!) ordered 50 more cases. I've only got 5 of the originals left ...

July 28

One more! The people who run the sushi shop attached to the local supermarket want to start. They learned about us from the bakery people, who have apparently been showing their set to all their friends. Ten! While I was wrapping their prints (they want to come up to date), I realized that there is only one copy of Tenji Tenno [1-1] left, and no copies of Dainagon Tsunenobo [1-3]. It looks like printing, printing time is here! Thankfully, today is the last day of English.

As there has been no feedback (or payment!) from Mr. S in Kobe, I tried to find his telephone number from directory information (we only have his address). No luck, as it must be under his business name, whatever it is. I'm not sure whether or not I should send him this next one ...

In the afternoon, started the carving on Kiyohara no Motosuke [1-5], and in the evening, wrapped up the final English class for the term. As things stand now, we have 10 paying customers, about 1/4 of the total we need to make a basic living at it. If they dribble in bit by bit over the next few weeks, then by September, we will still be well short of the target, and I will have to start up the classes again. If, however, I can find some way to get wide exposure of this project ... The TV flyers look like a complete bust, and no magazines other than 'Foto' seem interested. Maybe the Suntory letter will lead to something ...

July 29

Carving, kids, carving, kids ... Wrapped up and delivered the prints for Watanabe-san, the sushi shop owner. In the evening, prepared 30 sheets for a run of Tenji Tenno. It's been about four months since I've printed any of these, so it should be interesting to see if I can find the colours again from my notes.

July 30

Sumi in the morning - not without problems. It seemed to go OK, but inspection of the pile more carefully after they were done showed quite a lot of uneven areas, some are quite black, others less so. Perhaps I didn't brush out thoroughly enough ...

July 31

Kids off to the Hoikuen, and printed the 30. It went pretty well, and I think 27 of them are good enough to go out. The kimono colour is a bit different from the last run, being a bit more muted. Finished at 12:30 at night. A professional printer could have done 100 copies before lunch!

While I was at the bank paying an installment on next year's income tax (grrr ...), one of the people there mentioned that he had seen the prints at the baker's house, and wanted to discuss displaying a copy in the bank. He feels that there is no room in his branch, and referred me to the Ozaku branch. That might be very useful for bringing in some more ...