Written on July 19, 1990 [Permalink]

July 15

Sumi on the 60, and with not so much nori as the last batch. I think I'll keep Matsuzaki's 'recipe' in mind for those wide black kimono areas, but stick to my previous way of doing things for those prints with less expansive black areas. I don't want the smearing problem.

More carving on Atsutada [2-6] in the evening, and finished the main kimono outlines.

July 16

Printing, printing, printing. These long days of printing are exhausting. I work at it from just after breakfast, right until falling into bed at about midnight. I'm starting to get some problems with my neck, and it won't turn past about 45° either way anymore. The new town indoor swimming pool opens in a couple of months, and I'm going to be there on the first day, and hopefully every day after!

Didn't quite get finished the 60 this evening. There was much less problem with the black smearing, and I can only assume that it's because of the decreased moisture and nori.

July 17

Finished them off in the morning. Two are no good, and with the 13 baddies from yesterday, minus the 11 freebies each month, that leaves me about six short of my 100. Next week I'll run another ten sheets, while I still have the pigments sitting in the bowls.

While I was out with Himi-chan at the used bookstore, looking for Doraemon books, Michiyo took a call from TV Tokyo. They were thinking of using me as the subject of a quiz show, and was I interested? Michiyo assumed that I was, and made an appointment for the producer (?) to come out and see us on Thursday afternoon. This one also comes from the Shukan Jiji magazine article.

July 18

Deliveries, English, and 10 sheets wet and printed with sumi, in case the TV people tomorrow want to see what the work actually looks like.

July 19

Five classes, but time to squeeze in the visit from the TV people. The person who visited was some kind of research assistant for the program. They have a weekly one hour show with three segments. For each one, a short 5-8 minute video is shown, followed by questions, etc. to the panel. They are planning a program with a 'shokunin' theme, and came to see if I would be a suitable subiect. We talked to her for a couple of hours, and demonstrated what the carving and printing work look like. She was noncomittal about a possible appearance, and left us with a 'we'll think about it ...' kind of comment.

Later in the evening, when Emiko was here for her class, we were discussing the possibility with her, and were surprised to hear her say that we should refuse any offers to appear on that program. She seemed to think that it was beneath my dignity, as they apparently don't take things too seriously during the show. I've asked Takayoshi to tape it when it comes on tomorrow, so that I can get an idea of what it is like, and make a decision then.

This was supposed to be a day for going to the Kominkan for the karuta group, but as I was so late from the interview, I stayed home and finished off the 10 sheets instead.