Lilies, Katsushika Hokusai, p.380, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Bequest of Richard P. Gale (74.1.214)
Crow, Shibata Zeshin, p.384, © Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of Drs. Edmund and Julie Lewis, 2003 (27652)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have been left indebted to a number of people while writing this book. Most obviously all those whose funding brought it into existence. Every pledge was hugely appreciated for the step they took me closer to full funding, and I was lucky to receive some extremely generous support. But each also gave an emotional boost on the publishing journey which, for all its excitement, can have its lonely and bruising moments.
There was less obvious but equally important support from others. (Great Auntie) Hazel Keyser’s parting gift funded my time in Japan writing the book and changed my life in numerous ways. My parents and sister, far from disowning me, provided support for another hare-brained scheme. The Hiratas welcomed me into their family despite my unconventional circumstances. Mio unknowingly refined the book and took my life on a new and vastly improved path. And Kimi, who despite making no conscious effort to help the book or enhance my life, has made it a far better place all the same.
Some others provided very practical support. John Howell gave me some insight into the aftermath of losing a finger. Aiko Hiratsuka provided invaluable translation support – without which I would likely have a completely different horimono to the one I thought I was asking for. Josh Baldock shared some great anecdotes. Chris Armstrong gave very helpful feedback. And Richard Higson was a superstar creating my fundraising video.
I’m also very grateful to Scott Pack and DeAndra Lupu at Unbound for their corrections, improvements and general support. Scott in particular for taking the project on in the first place.
Thanks also to Emiko Hirata for the beautiful calligraphy created for the special edition print and the extra efforts of Cameron Hilker and the other Mokuhankan team members.
Some belated thanks for my last book to Lucy Ashken, Lee Poh Chu, Richard Wei, Amar Malhas and the photographer Michael Gladstone.
Unrelated but far more importantly, I must say the most heartfelt of thanks to Mr Giuliani and Mr Thompson’s teams at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, and the wonderful nurses from Chameleon Ward. Words can’t express how grateful I am.
A number of wonderful writers and artists allowed me to use their work as part of the fundraising process. They are David Bull and the team at Mokuhankan, Sonia Leong, Joan Sinclair and Liza Dalby. Manami Okazaki not only provided support in this way but was pivotal to my irezumi education and put me in touch with Horitoku. The chance to work with such inspiring people made the hard work of crowdfunding a pleasure.
For those who like the woodblock prints and are interested in owning one, there are still a handful of artisans creating them. They use identical processes and pigments to the originals, meaning the new prints look exactly the same as the artists envisaged them. You can find them at:
Mokuhankan: mokuhankan.com
Takumi Woodblock Studio: takumihanga.com
The Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints: adachi-hanga.com
Finally, I am in the dangerous position of knowing enough about aspects of Japanese culture to write about them, but not nearly enough to do so without error and possibly offence. I hope I have kept the latter in particular to a minimum as the book came from a love of the country that I hope will be passed on to others.
A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR
Nick Hurst spent three years training with a kung fu master in Malaysia to write his first book, Sugong, which was published in 2012. He has written for the Guardian and Time Out. He lives in London.
Unbound is the world’s first crowdfunding publisher, established in 2011.
We believe that wonderful things can happen when you clear a path for people who share a passion. That’s why we’ve built a platform that brings together readers and authors to crowdfund books they believe in – and give fresh ideas that don’t fit the traditional mould the chance they deserve.
This book is in your hands because readers made it possible. Everyone who pledged their support is listed below. Join them by visiting unbound.com and supporting a book today.
Chris Armstrong
Jason Ballinger
Dr Deepti Bhuwanee
Nelly Bostock-Low
Mark Bracegirdle
Adam Buchler
Rachel Butterworth
James M Calnan
Ed Carter
Nick Clifton-Welker
Laurence Collings
Craig Cooper
Jane Curtis
Jerome De Silva
Phil ‘The Duke’ Donert
Luke Doran
Robert Dowling
Nick Dugdale-Moore
Kevan Edinborough
Michael Fidler
Clare Franks
Mark Sparks Bruiser Bubba Freeman
Steve Gibbon
David Gladstone
Florence, Lola, Nadia and Alice Gladstone
Joel Gladstone
Michael Gladstone
Simon Glover
David Goodman
Tom, Sarah and Leo Goodman
Millie Graham-Campbell
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation
Ed Gunner
Jeremy Hill
Takashi Hirata
Philippa Holland
Janice Holve
John Howell
Aleks Hughes
Claire Hugman
Kate Humber
Brian and Rhona Hurst
Jacob Hurst
Mooki and Peter Hurst
Rebecca Hurst
Sam, Roz and Savannah Hurst
Alastair Hutchison
Matthew Irvine
Johari Ismail
Vin Jauhal
JoMac
Rémy Jugault
Vinnie Khairallah
Dan Kieran
Joanne Kilgour
Blanka Kolenikova
Ivan Langham
Jilly Leech
Emma Lester
Phil Lewis
Arthur McGibbon
John Mitchinson
Isabel Morgan
David Napier
Bruno Noble
Krysia Oastler
Peter Oastler
John Osmotherly
Scott Pack
Clare Pattenden
Ashim Paun
Dan Peters
Justin Pollard
Tara Pritchard
Alun Rishko
Lucy Ashken & Duncan Rowden
Robert Sheaf
Duncan Smith
Ben South
Karen Stenning
Nick Stickland
Paul Stirling
David Strafford
David Strafford and Dr Deepti Bhuwanee
CG Tan
Kim Tan
Tzvia Teller
John Gethin & Felicity Theobald
Dan Thwaites
Grahame Tinsley
Andy Todd
Rob Veling
Neville Wall
Gwen Watson
Cassy Waugh
River Hurst Wells
River, Tania & Matthew Hurst Wells
Paul Willett
Derek Wilson
Gareth Wilson
Benjamin Zola
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© Nick Hurst, 2019
The right of Nick Hurst to be identified as the author
of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is pub
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A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78352-631-4 (trade pbk)
ISBN 978-1-78352-633-8 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-78352-632-1 (limited edition)
Printed in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK)