Onakatomi no Yoshinobu

As you know, for my own purposes, I've mixed up the order of the poets, but coincidentally, the 49th print I've made in this series is also the real number 49 in the traditional chronological sequence. Yoshinobu was one of the most famous poets of his day, and a member of a family that produced many famous poets - at least six continuous generations of them are listed in my history books, including his grand-daughter Ise no Taifu, who is also a Hyaku-nin Isshu member. I'm not sure what to think of his poem, which in some translations seems quite straightforward, if somewhat depressing, but which in others becomes quite cynical:

... but alternatively:

I sometimes wonder if collectors of my work realize when they open the package each month just how 'fresh' the prints are. This month's schedule has been typical: after mailing the previous print on October 15, I spent a few days on preparation, and then started the carving on this one on October 20th. There weren't many kimono patterns to take up time, but there were a lot of interruptions, and the key block carving wasn't finished until the evening of November 2nd. During this time my two assistants were making the washi folders to hold the prints, and as soon as the key block was finished, I printed the name label for the front of the folders for them. The next couple of days was taken with carving on the colour blocks, the weekend was spent with the kids, and when I received the paper shipment on Sunday the 7th, I moistened some paper and started the printing. That was finished by the evening of the 10th (last night). Today I dried the prints, checked them over, signed them, slipped them into the waiting folders, and finally finished up this little letter. Tomorrow morning, (the 12th), my helpers will be coming over to help me wrap the packages. The Post Office will pick them up in the afternoon, and if all goes well, you should have the print in your hands by Saturday afternoon ... perhaps fresher than some of the food you'll eat this weekend!

The cycle doesn't finish there, as during the next couple of weeks your payments come in one by one, and by the end of the month there's enough money in the Post Office account to pay the rent, the food co-op, and bills for woodblocks and paper, etc. In the meantime, I'm busy with the carving on the next one ... And so it goes, month by month ...

I hope you enjoy this print. Coming up next month to finish off the first half, the emperor Yozei In.

November 1993

Tom Galt Princeton University Press, 1982