Yozei In

As you look at this print, it is perhaps now apparent to you why I left the emperor until the end of this year's set, instead of putting him at the beginning. I started the series five years ago with Tenji Tenno standing behind his bamboo screen ready to open things up, and as we arrive at the halfway mark, the screen rolls partway down ... it's intermission time.

Yozei In is another of those 'emperor at nine years of age', 'retired at fourteen', etc. etc. stories that seem so common from those days. (Spending the subsequent 60 years in retirement was perhaps less common ... although that doesn't sound so bad, does it?). Unlike some of the other poets in the series, most of whom were very prolific, Yozei In is known for just one poem, this one.

A very common phrase that people use when talking to me about my print series is 'life work'. It must be wonderful to have found your lifework!', is a typical comment. Although I appreciate the enthusiasm with which such a comment is offered, I must beg to differ about the content. I do not have the feeling that this set of 100 prints is my 'masterpiece' ... my 'life work' ... the greatest thing I will do in my life. When it is finished in five more years, I will be only 47 years old. At that age how could anybody possibly accept the fact that the 'best' was behind him?

Of course I am very proud of this series. But I was no less proud of myself the time I walked on stage to play a Mozart flute concerto with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra; no less proud when I sold my first handmade classic guitar; no less proud when I completed the design and programming of a major computer system for the company I worked for in Canada ... The list could be longer, but I think my point is clear. Which of these is my 'life work'? I think it is none of them ... but I guess it is all of them. This project is simply the 'next' episode in what I wish could be an endless list ...

I don't yet know what I'll do after this series is finished. I don't want to know ... yet. But whatever it is that I choose to take on, whether it's more printmaking, or whether it's something completely different, I hope I'll be able to apply the lessons I'm learning during this decade. At last, I've learned to concentrate on the work at hand. At last, I've trained myself how to plan things properly before actually starting work. And at last, I've learned I'm learning to be happy with what I'm doing, and not keep continually looking for something 'better' or 'more interesting'. Now, if I can only learn all these lessons well, that will be a real life's work!

So now, when people congratulate me on my 'life work', I gently correct them - 'Iie, raifu-waaku dewa arimasen. Junbi desu.' 'No, no. Not my life work. Just ... preparation.'

Thank you all very much for being part of my project and my life this year. I hope you have found it as rewarding as I have.

December 1993

Translation - William Porter 1909