Chunagon Yakamochi

Our poet this month is Chunagon Yakamochi, active in the 8th century, and quite an important person in his day. He had a career as a general, a provincial Governor, and a Senior Councillor of State. The allusion in Yakamochi's poem is to that famous tale of lovers isolated on either side of the Milky Way, which we now associate with the summer Tanabata festivals, but which is presented here with a winter image:

I read a newspaper story a little while ago that discussed the role of government in the arts, and found myself disagreeing with what the writer had to say ...

The story first quoted some figures to show that Japanese government support for the arts is skimpy compared to that available in many other countries, and that what money is offered usually goes to a few high-profile projects, rather than being spread around to a greater number of 'needy' artists. The writer then went on to demand of the government (and this is what I opposed) that a far greater amount of money be made available, to be spread around 'like seeds', in order that 'magnificent artworks' could grow.

My feeling on this is precisely the opposite. I believe that governments have no place at all in such activities as subsidizing the arts. Each project, be it drama, painting, woodblock printmaking or whatever, should stand or fall on its own individual merit, on whatever value it offers to the society of the day. Support should come from individuals (buying theatre tickets, buying paintings, etc.), or perhaps from private institutions (subsidies for orchestras, grants to artists, etc.). If the art has value to people such as these, then it has value to society, and deserves to survive. If however, it cannot gather this support, then by definition it has no value to society, and deserves to fade from view. Thousands of painters, actors, writers, dancers, etc. are constantly exhibiting their 'wares', and the people of the society select those which have meaning for them. The artists are the basic creators, but it is the patrons who give the work its relevance.

It was thus with an immense feeling of relief that I found during the first year of work on this print series, that my work seemed to be relevant enough that people were encour-aged to collect it, and thus support the project. My long ten-year journey has come this far, not because a bureaucrat in a government ministry somewhere put his 'hanko' on an application form, but because you collectors, 'Mr. and Mrs. Japan', are interested in seeing it succeed. Your support means very much to me, and I thus truly feel like an honest, productive member of this society, and not someone begging for a living. I am sure you can imagine my feelings as I sign each print and send it out to you each month ... For giving this work its meaning, thank you very much.

September 1994

Translation - Tom Galt - 1982