100 Poets : Set #5 : Noin Hoshi

My poetry books tell me that Noin Hoshi was known for writing poems without actually travelling to the locations in question, but stayed at home and did the job in his imagination. I wonder if this poem is one of those, because another book tells me that Mt. Mimuro is apparently located too far from the river for the maple leaves from its trees to reach the water ...

I was giving an interview recently on a radio program, and was surprised when the interviewer asked if she could look at my hands. She in turn, was surprised once I had extended them for her inspection. It seems that she wanted to see the big calluses on my hands ... and I don't have any! Some of the older printers I know have quite large calluses on their 'baren' hand, some nearly a centimeter high.

Why don't I have any? Well, I wish I did, but with the way I have chosen to work, I suppose I'll never develop any. You see, those other printers are printers. They get up, have breakfast, start printing, and continue all day ... printing. Every day. Naturally, over the years they have developed good strong calluses where their hands apply pressure to the baren. My routine is quite different. For two or three weeks every month I am a carver, and during that time never even look at my printing tools. For the rest of the month I am a printer, and don't touch the carving tools. During the 'off time' for each job, any calluses that may have started to develop, just quietly fade away. I don't get calluses, I just get sore!

(Don't ask me what I was doing 'showing' my work on the radio ... I thought it was a bit strange, too ...)

I hope you enjoy this print. Coming up next month, Sanjo no Udaijin.