Written on January 9, 1990 [Permalink]

January 7

Printed labels, prepared folders, and packed the Sarumarus to go out this week. I'd send them out right now, but I need Michiyo to write out the customer's names in the labels stuck in each folder. My calligraphy is about 50 years away from being acceptable.

January 8

Went off to Fussa to check out the gallery space for tomorrow's set-up. It was a bit of a shock, as the place apparently hasn't been used in months, and there's grime and dirt everywhere. The motorcycle sitting in the middle of the floor also gives an interesting 'ambience'. The owner says that it'll be ready for me to set up tomorrow at 9:00 AM. I was kind of hoping to set up today. Doing it all in one hour on the morning of the exhibition doesn't sound like a recipe for a well-organized, properly laid out show.

A phone call came in today from the people at the new local cable network. I have been meaning to give them a call, but just haven't got around to it yet, and here they are! They say they will be around in the morning (to the gallery) to do a piece on the exhibition. More TV! (As usual, I don't expect big things from this. The network is very new, and I think they are in about 0.01% of homes around here). Still, every little bit ...

Bought some nice long sheets of paper, and got out Michiyo's 'fude' to try making some signs for the gallery window. 'How to learn Japanese calligraphy in one quick short lesson - by yourself!' Actually they don't look too bad - to me, but as I think that your average Japanese 2-year old could make better ones, I asked Saka-sensei to scribble some out for me. Of course, she tried to beg off, claiming that she couldn't do a good job, etc. etc. (Why are all Japanese women so self-deprecating? Why can't somebody simply say 'Sure, no problem!'). I wrung my hands a little, and she agreed to 'try'.

January 9

Last night, Saka-sensei came round with the finished sign. It seems that they drew straws for it at the hoikuen, and en-cho-sensei 'lost'. Of course, it is very nicely done and this morning, I took her a freebie print as a thank you.

I won't be taking any freebies to the owner of the gallery. When I got there this morning at about 8:30, nothing had changed from the day before. If anything it was worse - now there was a pall of smoke from the umpteen hours of shogi playing. When I knocked, Tanaka-san took his time answering (obviously dragging himself out of bed), and then simply gave me a dirty old mop and wandered off. It took nearly two hours to get the room in shape for the show, dumping all the furniture out back, hauling out the bike, swabbing the floor, trying the clean the windows, washing and bringing in a couple of chairs, etc., cleaning the plants, and then hanging the prints and setting up the pamphlets, etc. It wouldn't have been so bad, except for the appointment I had made to meet the TV crew at 10:00. Luckily, they were 15 minutes or so late, and it was all set up in time.

Other than that, it was a fun day. It looks quite presentable, and the prints look great! Thirteen people came by, nearly all from newspapers and TV: Uekuri-san from the Yomiuri, a few of the Fureai women, Hanamori-san, the crew from the cable network, and Azuma-san from Ome. I had to leave at about 4:00 to go and get the kids from the day care, so I left a note on the door apologizing for my absence, and asking visitors to check with the convenience store next door for admittance (it's owned by the same guy).