This video expands on the story of Dave meeting the woodblock carver Ito Susumu back in 1992. Using old video cassettes from the producers of the TV program made at that time - saved from the cutting room floor - we see Dave getting a 'master class' in traditional woodblock carving.
If you haven't seen the original 'Remembering a Carver' video, it is here:
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Links
The Mokuhankan website:
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Dave's Twitch stream:
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The Patreon:
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Mokuhankan print subscriptions:
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The web page discussing tying with string that was mentioned in the video:
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Comments on Dave's visit to Ito-san from the producer of the original TV program back in 1992, Ms. Reiko Furuichi
"I visited the carver Susumu Ito with David in 1992. Mr. Matsuzaki the printer had arranged the visit for us. (David has already written about this visit in this newsletter, but we TV people have another side to the story!)
Mr. Ito was an elderly 'shokunin' with sullen looks. I didn't even know how to talk to him, but began the interview with my heart in my mouth. It was a strange scene that David and Mr. Ito made, sitting side by side. Their body sizes were completely different and we were not able to shoot the scene in the usual way (Mr. Ito was small and worked with his body hunched over). David felt small sitting beside the 'master', but when we looked at them through the camera lens, it seemed just the reverse; it looked like as though David was bullying Mr. Ito.
So it was quite a difficult situation for our crew. The cameraman was struggling to take pictures of them as they sat on the tatami with tools scattered here and there. He had to work very unnaturally, shooting between their heads and shoulders, and he looked at me quite reproachfully. And what was worse, was that David's ability to listen to Japanese language was far from perfect at that time, and the way Mr. Ito spoke was not easy to understand even for us Japanese. Would this interview work out? We were quite concerned ...
And what happened? Well, Mr. Ito didn't care about the camera at all and eagerly started to tell a lot of things to David. We felt his extraordinary desire to pass on his knowledge to David. Two people have the subject in common. One is eager to tell what he knows, and the other is eager to learn it. It seems that nothing can disturb them. As time went by, the things that Mr. Ito said to David became more and more specific, and at last he was teaching David the 'secrets of carving' with 90% gestures and 10% Japanese that consisted of just isolated words. It seemed as though he was trying to teach David everything he knew in this few hours. It would take a few years to teach them at school. David listened to him with all his heart and mind and strength. Gradually Mr. Ito became to look big for us, too.
One knife came to David's hand and then back to Mr. Ito's hand. This was repeated again and again. It was a happy encounter beyond every difference - age, language, or nationality. Mr. Kenichiro Nakaba, the cameraman, kept taking shots of their hands as much as he could.
After we returned to our office, we talked about how beautiful the hands of the two men were. Why did Mr. Ito try to teach his techniques to David so eagerly? What was David trying to do? Do we really understand Japanese woodblock prints? What is happening in the traditional culture of Japan? ..."
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0:00 Introduction
5:24 Going to Ito-san's Home
6:07 Ita Bokashi (Carved Gradations)
7:35 Sharpening
12:05 Brush Strokes
15:03 Blade Length and Wrapping
17:23 Dave Shares His Work
18:50 Ito-san Carving
25:10 Discussion and Ending
