Dainagon Kinto

We finish off our first set of ten with one of the favorites - Fujiwara no Kinto. (I suppose I shouldn't say things like that. They're all somebody's favorite!) He lived almost exactly one thousand years ago, and the sound of the waterfall in his poem still resounds ...

During the carving of these prints, I find that one of the most difficult moments comes when I have to do the eyes. If my knife 'slips' a little when I am carving a kimono pattern, it might pass unnoticed by the viewer (although not by me!), but if I were to make even the tiniest of errors while doing the eyeballs, the face of the poet would become distorted and unattractive. I had no such stress while carving this print!

It feels very good to have completed the first set of ten prints. After finishing the printing on this one, I got out all the others and leaned them up against the wall for a little private 'exhibition', just to see how they looked when all placed together. I think they look fine, and I can't wait to see all one hundred!

Translation - William Porter, 1909