Written on August 31, 1989 [Permalink]

August 21

Letter from Toyo Bunko today replying to my query about royalties, etc. They don't want any payment for use of the book, but simply asked that I send them copies of the work. Of course, I am willing to do that, and had considered it anyway. It seems that they consider my project "all in the cause of art, etc. etc. ...". Made a hanshita from the photo of Oeno Chisato [1-6], pasted it down, and made the first few ritual cuts. One more - away we go! The transfer method worked exceptionally well this time, resulting in an image that looks like it grew out of the wood. The tracing paper is totally invisible.

Also used one of the new blocks and started making an "outline" block, with just the border lines on it. This will involve more printing of each print in the future, but will save a lot of carving time. Prepared 33 sheets for another run at Motosuke [1-5].

August 22

With everybody out at the pool, printed the sumi (two blocks) on the 33 sheets. Probably the smoothest, most relaxed printing I have ever done. This is a very easy block to print, and everything seemed to be just right. Let's hope I don't spoil them all in the colour printing tomorrow. I'm worried about making a smooth blue on the kimono ...

The sample package that we had sent to Mr. Moriwake in Kurashiki in Kurashiki came back today. He's staying as a customer, but it seems that nobody else there wants to start.

August 23

Ran the colours. 33 sheets - 6 colours - in 6 hours. It went pretty well, and most of them are fine for sending out. Getting the blue smooth was of course a problem. I think that its time to take some blocks to either Seki-san or Matsuzaki-san to see what they can do with them. I still haven't had much chance to watch them printing tsubushi colour.

Picked out some good copies, and prepared 8 packages for mailing (four for customers, and four samples). We'll see what Seki-san has to say about this attempt at tsubushi printing! Not much, I dare say...

Flipped through my account books for the project to see what kind of damage our bank account has sustained these last few months. It turns out that since January, I've spent upwards of ¥700,000 on print related expenses. Revenue? ¥250,000 to date. That's not much of a 'balance', but lots of these expenses are of the 'up front' kind, that will be recouped later. Actually, with 12 customers we're just on the breakeven point, with basic expenses for blocks, paper, and what-have-you being covered.

The problem comes from the fact that over the past year, because I don't intend to continue with English teaching, I haven't been accepting any new students, and what with the natural attrition to juku, etc. they have now dropped below the point of maintaining our normal family expenses. Next week, to make up enough to pay September's rent, etc. we're going to have to dip into Michiyo's translation savings, and you can guess what she thinks about that!

August 25

The next few days will be our 'summer vacation' trip - to Fukui and Kyoto. Because Michiyo's parents live with us here in Tokyo, there is no chance for us to spend our usual summer in the country this year. To give us a chance to get away for a few days, Michiyo's sister Hiroyo-san has come, and will stay a week to care for the old folks. We'll combine a couple of print-related visits with a stopover with the Tokimotos.

August 30

Back from the trip. The first two night were spent in Nagoya with Tokimoto-san, and then we headed for Fukui-ken to see Yamaguchi-san, our papermaker. It was a disappointing visit. They were very uncomfortable with visitors, and completely unable to relax and continue their normal activities. We arrived at their place in the mid-afternoon, and it turned out that the accomodation they had booked for us (at our request) was a zillion miles away, necessitating a late afternoon departure. We really only had a quick look around the workshop, and a short discussion on our paper requirements, etc. I don't want to imply that they were unfriendly, but rather that they simply didn't know what to do with us.

[ photo ...]

It seems like this workshop too, just like all the others we visit, is doomed to expire with the present operators. The Yamaguchis are in their 50's, and their graduate son doesn't know anything about the business, nor seems particularly interested. Where the hell am I going to get blocks, paper, etc. in another few years? After spending the night in the grossly overpriced, crummy little 'hotel' (¥20,000 - no food!), we zipped off in the middle of Typhoon #17 to Kyoto, where we checked in at the Utano Youth Hostel. Michiyo and I stayed here 7 or 8 years ago, and remember that they treated us well. We spent the day sightseeing with the kids (no rain in Kyoto!). The next morning it was off to see Torazo Matsuda. the carver recommended by Yuyudo.

I have mixed feelings about this visit. The man we met was basically friendly, but in a kind of neutral way - not like the open friendliness of Matsuzaki and Seki-san. After seeing my prints, me simply stated that as he couldn't do any better himself (patently untrue), there wasn't anything he could help me with. He then clammed up, only coming out with information on some process or procedure when specifically asked. His tools are sharpened to quite a different shape than I've ever seen before - a very, very long bevel, giving an extremely thin tip, which must break with heartbreaking frequency. Of course, they were bloody sharp! I've been thinking that my sharpening has been getting better, but after looking at one of his blades for a moment, I realize that this is one area that is still holding me back.

It turned out that the man we were talking to was not Torazo Matsuda, but rather his son (in his middle 50's?). He told us that his father was in hospital, very ill, and as he really seemed quite upset about it, I didn't get involved with any questions about the family set-up. I still don't know this man's name! I don't know what he really knows about carving. My questions about katagiri-bori were met with a shrug, and my query about stroke order for cutting hair-lines provoked the comment that it was 'very difficult', followed by a self-contradictory outline of how he thought it was done. As for ukiyo-e type work, he does either none, or very little.

Again, I don't want to leave a totally negative impression. He was basically friendly, but in a detached way. He gave me a small, very hard sharpening stone, that he said would help me get a better edge on my blades.

After leaving his shop at noon (they didn't ask us to stay for lunch), we took the kids to the zoo, went back to the hostel, and then returned home in the morning. Not much of a vacation (by Canadian standards - normal by Japanese standards!), but a chance nonetheless to fill in some more details of the overall print-making scene.

When we got home, we found out that the Typhoon had ripped through Hamura, uprooting trees in the parking lot next door, tearing my 'fading-test' prints off the balcony wall, and probably depositing them in the Pacific Ocean! Maybe they have become my most widely travelled prints!

I also found the next package of paper from Yamaguchi-san, and a package from the knife maker in Niigata-ken, containing the replacement blades for my 'to', along with some totally useless toy-type woodcarving knives. They obviously completely misunderstood what I needed. I think that I'll make a trip to Shimizu in Akihabara for the soainomi and marunomi I need. Just about everybody we meet has recommended their stuff. (Actually I'll have to wait until some ¥ comes in ...)

August 31

A phone call today from a Mr. Kawanaka, in Saitama prefecture. He saw the 'Foto' (how much longer will these calls keep coming?!) and wanted more information. Up to now, when Michiyo has been taking these calls, I have been feeling quite uncomfortable as I listen to their conversation. The first topic is inevitably the business of payment - there is never any general talk about the work, or hyakunin-isshu, or their interests, etc., but simply discussion about payment. And here I thought that Japanese had an aversion to direct speaking! Recently I've been asking her to try and initiate a more relaxed, general conversation, and try and find out what they think of all this, why they called, what they are expecting, etc., and let the business details come out naturally. So today, when this guy called, she was ready to give it a try - but when she picked up the phone, he started right in, "How do I make payment ...". It was a couple of minutes before she could get him off the money stuff, and then she did a creditable job at a more general conversation. Anyway, he signed up. That's thirteen.