Yushi Naishin-no Kii

Here is our second female poet this year, a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Yushi, back in Heian times. Her husband was Fujiwara no Shigetsune. I read in my history books that he was a poet too, and I wonder how he would have felt if he could have known that his wife would gain everlasting fame from her poetry, while he would always remain just a footnote ...

I like this month's poem. All too often, poetry of this era is written at the expense of women, portraying them as either hopelessly lovesick, or forlornly waiting for some man to show up. This one is different. This woman is not about to be taken in by some guy's 'big talk'. There is a proverb that expresses the same idea even more concisely, although much less poetically .... Shallow water makes noisy waves.

The kimono patterns on this print are quite 'busy', and the carving took quite some time. My daughters and their friends sometimes come into my workshop to watch as I sit at my bench working. Of course, my own kids are very familiar with what I am doing and usually run off to play after a couple of minutes, but their friends are sometimes more curious. They sit quietly and watch, and then ask, 'Oji-san, what are you doing' I explain a little, and after a bit, they too run off to play. This month, during the carving of those endless patterns, one little girl sat and watched after the others had lost interest. After a while she asked, 'Is this interesting?' I assured her that yes indeed, it was quite interesting and enjoyable. She sat watching quietly for another few minutes, and then asked, 'Really?' I tried to convince her that it was, but I don't think she believed me, and a minute later she was gone. Of course, I can see what she couldn't. In my mind's eye, I can see the finished print, fully carved, and printed with beautiful colours, and it is that vision that keeps me plugging away at it during the long hours of carving each month. The vision of the finished print. The vision of 100 finished prints!

I hope that one day that little girl can enjoy this same feeling ... to have a vision of what can be ... and then to work and make that vision come true. And of course I hope that my own children will also learn this, through their own parents' examples ...

Interesting? Yes, little one, very interesting.

'till next month ...

October 1992

Translation - Tom Galt 1982 Princeton University Press