Written on September 22, 1990 [Permalink]

September 22

9:00 am Bit of a quandary. The sumi block that I have on hand (one of the two sent by Shimano-san a few weeks ago), is quite soft, but the next print has a quite detailed kimono pattern, which would be better carved on a hard block. The following print (Sangi Hitoshi [2-10]) has fewer details, being a solid black kimono. Should I start carving the Hitoshi print on this block, and then set it aside when the next block arrives (presumably somewhat harder)? Answer: yes, let's get going. We're leaving in exactly two months, and there's no time to sit waiting for blocks...... Pasted down the Hitoshi hanshita.

9:30 am (of course) A package arrives from Shimano-san with a single block. It's the heaviest, hardest block he has ever sent. When Michiyo was talking to him last time, she mentioned that those blocks had been 'rather' soft, and I guess he decided to send me a real one. I tried to phone him and thank him for it, but his mental block got in the way, and he hung up thinking it was a nuisance caller. The second time I tried, he seemed to be able to recognize who I was. Interestingly enough, he made no mention of the newsletter (with his 'feature'), which I mailed to him a few days ago.

Visited Yamashita-san today, to drop off his Toshiyori Ason, and to watch his video of the TV show last night. It turned out OK. My speaking was much more confident, and I seemed to have more presence. As I had expected though, there is no discussion at all of the work, and this isn't going to bring us any benefit.

He showed me some more of his plans for his museum. The hanga room will be on the second floor, near his nihon-ga collection. He's really spending a lot of time on this, with detailed site maps and floor plans all prepared. It seems a bit strange that he doesn't yet know if the landowner is prepared to sell...

When he found out that we had lost a customer this week, he started to think of ways he could increase his 'help level', and suggested that I send him some back numbers, to increase his collection to two of each. I don't know what to say to him when he makes suggestions like this. of course, I appreciate his desire to help with this thing, but I certainly don't want to sit there taking handouts. Maybe that flyer that went out last week will stir up some action, and I can bring a good report!