Life of Nobuko: Words, Works and Pictures of an Ordinary but Remarkable Japanese Woman, 1946-2015 9781898823896

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THE LIFE OF NOBUKO

Nobuko, July 2011

THE LIFE OF NOBUKO THE WORDS, WORKS AND PICTURES OF AN ORDINARY BUT REMARKABLE JAPANESE WOMAN, 1946–2015

EDITED WITH COMMENTARIES AND INTRODUCTION BY

KIYONORI KANASAKA [Translated By Nicholas Pertwee]

Original Japanese edition © K. Kanasaka 2016, published by Shibunkaku Publishing Co., Kyoto, Japan THE LIFE OF NOBUKO THE WORDS, WORKS AND PICTURES OF AN ORDINARY BUT REMARKABLE JAPANESE WOMAN, 1946-2015

English edition first published 2021 by RENAISSANCE BOOKS PO Box 219 Folkestone Kent CT20 2WP Renaissance Books is an imprint of Global Books Ltd English edition © Global Books Ltd, 2021 All images in this volume © K. Kanasaka 2021 978-1-898823-88-9 (Hardback) 978-1-898823-89-6 (E-book) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library

Set in Bembo 11 on 11.5pt by Dataworks Printed in England by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wilts

In memory of my beloved Nobuko and our parents who raised us with love and compassion

CONTENTS

Preface Organization of captions and photographic credits

xi xii

Part I : The Life of Nobuko in Photographs 1: Growing Up (1958–1970) 2: How We Met and Married (1970–1978) 3: With Our Daughter Yu-ko (1978–1986) 4: Our Dog Koro – the New Family Member (1986–1994) 5: Family, Calligraphy and Travel (1994–2010) 6: Calligraphy and Journeys in Sickness (2011–2015)

2 6 14 36 45 92

Maps Fig. 1. Nobuko’s Domestic Trips and Our Post-marriage Residences Fig. 2. Nobuko’s Overseas Trips (1985–2014)

110 111

CHRONOLOGY OF NOBUKO’S LIFE AND TIMES

111

Part II : Works by Nobuko 1: Calligraphy 1: ‘Sakura’ Exhibitions 2013/2015 & ‘Wonder’ Exhibitions 2014/2015 2: Calligraphy 2: Other Exhibitions 2000–2010 3: Calligraphy 3: Études Published in Taigen ࠕ ( ኴ※ࠖ) Magazine 1995–2011 4: Calligraphy 4: Other Works 2005–2015 5: Embroidery 1974–1977

116 127 137 145 148

Part III : Nobuko’s Essays Thoughts on the Socialist Party Writings Prompted by Her Illness 1: My Illness [1] 2: My Illness [2] 3: My Doctors [1] 4: Second Opinion 5: The Patients’ Clubs 6: My Companions 7: Celebrities

152

8: Jam 9: 27 December 10: The Family Garden 11: My Mother 12: Our Dog 13: Photographs 14: Tears 15: Vegetables 16: The Amusement Park

155 155 156 156 156 157 157

vii

157 158 158 158 159 159 159 159 160

17: A Child 18: What’s Right for Me [1] 19: My Hair 20: My Husband [1] 21: My Husband [2] 22: My Parents’ Garden 23: Junior High School 24: Senior High School 25: University 26: Friends [1] 27: My Illness [3] 28: What’s Right for Me [2] 29: At the Hospital 30: The Big Snow 31: My Pension 32: Bitter Melons 33: An Annular Eclipse 34: The Actor Sugi Ryo-taro35: A Play 36: Kaibara Ekiken 37: Getting Old [1] 38: Close Friends 39: Loneliness

40: Getting Old [2] 41: Glasses 42: Friends [2] 43: My Husband [3] 44: Mum as Teacher 45: My Illness [4] 46: My Sister-in-Law 47: My Husband [4] 48: China 49: Night-stalls 50: Swimming 51: Songs 52: Noh 53: Nicknames 54: Dear Yasuko 55: The Neighbourhood Association 56: My Doctors [2] 57: What Will Be 58: Of Mice and Men 59: The Zoo 60: Rain 61: I Reflect Upon a Crime

160 161 161 161 162 162 162 163 163 164 164 164 165 165 166 167 167 168 169 169 170 170 170

171 171 172 172 172 172 173 173 173 174 174 175 175 176 176 176 177 178 178 179 180 181

Part IV : Remembrance 1: To Nobe • Kuwahara Kanako [1965] 2: An Exhibition and a Daphne Sapling y Yamada Junko [1965] 3: Like an Angel y Senda Minoru [1971] 4: Nobuko-san Who Never Stopped Smiling y Sakai Yoshio [1975] 5: Memories of Nobuko-san y Tatamitani Katsuo [1976] 6: Thank You for Everything y Iwata Yu-ko [1978] 7: Soul-mate y Kojima Junko [1987] 8: Essays That Tug at the Heartstrings y Mori Mitsutoshi [1989] 9: Remembering as a Mother y Ii Kazuko [1991] 10: Beautiful Letters y Roger & June Watts [1994] 11: Nobuko-san’s Calligraphy Imbued Her Personality y Sawasaka Satomi [1995] 12: Nobuko-san’s Smile y Nishihara Kazumi [1997] 13: My Thanks to Mrs Kanasaka y Zhong Chong [2000] 14: A Refreshing Spring Breeze y Ikeda Kiyotaka [2005]

viii

184 184 184 185 186 186 187 187 187 188 188 189 189 190

15: Nobuko in Edinburgh y Jackie Cromarty [2005] 16: The ‘Travel’ Photographic Exhibition in Edinburgh y The late Nakamura Kazue [2005] 17: A Friendship Across Two Continents y James & Elisabetta McEvoy [2009] 18: Your Gracious Company y Mary McDonald [2009] 19: An Ordinary but Remarkable Japanese Woman y Paul Norbury [2013] 20: Mrs Kanasaka and the Hope-for-life Exhibition y Hiraoka Sanae [2013] 21: In Memory of Nobuko y Andrew & Rosalind Reid [2014] Postscript

190 191 191 192 192 193 194 197

ix

PREFACE

O

n 15 July 2015 my wife Nobuko’s condition had deteriorated to the point where she had to be cared for at home and it was there in our house in Kyoto that we had shared for sixteen years that she died on 29 July 2015 at the age of sixty-eight, having overcome various significant challenges and difficulties during her life and survived. Once I had come to terms with my sorrow at Nobuko’s death I decided that I wanted there to be a record of her life. A photograph on its own merely captures a particular moment but if enough photographs are put together they become more than just a personal chronological record. So I set about considering ways of creating a volume that would be quite different from conventional retrospective accounts. In addition to the photographic ‘story’ of her life, I decided that the other important elements of such a volume would be the essays that Nobuko began writing in earnest once she had discovered how serious her cancer was, as well as the calligraphic works that she had produced since taking up the art some twenty years earlier . It is also true to say that the purpose of the project was in part for my own personal benefit because the challenges of putting it together were to prove a source of strength that enabled me to carry on. I was hugely encouraged in this endeavour by the support I received from people here at home who sympathised with what I was doing, as was the encouragement from friends overseas who understood what I needed to do. And so on 23 November the following year – the date of our wedding anniversary – I published Collected Moments – the Life of Nobuko. To mark the event I staged an exhibition entitled ‘A Couple’s Story – Calligraphy and Photographs’ that consisted of Nobuko’s calligraphic works and photographs of her that had appeared in the book with the addition of some of the photographs that I used in my Isabella Bird exhibitions. Here, in this English edition, I have reduced the number of photographs by about a half and rearranged the calligraphy exhibits, to make it a book that is more than just a personal record by adding some new elements, as can be seen below. Nobuko was born in the year following the end of the Second World War and so her life corresponds with Japan’s modern history, which was reborn out of defeat and attracted worldwide attention for the amazing speed at which it developed but in the process saw profound change. This is summarised in ‘A Chronology of Nobuko’s Life and Times’ (pp.111–113). In addition, I have added both text notes and footnotes throughout when I thought such clarification would be helpful to the reader. Nobuko also added handwritten captions to photographs for a period of time after our daughter was born and I have expanded on these in the hope of illuminating aspects of everyday Japanese life and traditional culture using actual sources. Calligraphy is still a typical part of the curriculum for a Japanese beginning at elementary school and then at middle school; it becomes an elective subject at high school and thereafter is pursued by huge numbers of men and women throughout the country who attend classes and follow courses supported by a great many institutions.

xi

xii

THE LIFE OF NOBUKO

Particularly well known are the Mainichi Shodo Association and its Yomiuri counterpart, the Yomiuri Calligraphers Society, with their contrasting styles and top-down pyramid-type systems, which have the backing of these national newspapers, but there are artists who do not belong to either of these two schools and follow their own agenda. Nobuko’s study of calligraphy only started in her late forties and continued for some twenty years but it still did not extend beyond her being an aficionada of the art. Nevertheless, she applied herself to it with real intensity and I think one can see from the pieces shown here that she achieved a certain level of excellence within those parameters. I have added all the etudes which were published (with assessments to assist the reader) in the Taigen monthly magazine of the Taigen Shodo Association as good examples of her work. Nobuko was surprised to discover that there were these two systems with different styles but carried on learning to the point where she was ready to branch out with her own style and interpretation. But then, within a few years after she began her calligraphy studies, she discovered that she had a virulent form of cancer and lost her passion for the subject. Happily, she took it up again with the encouragement of Sawasaka Satomi and even held two exhibitions with friends who shared more in common than having the same illness. I am glad that I have been able trace the ‘path of learning’ along which Nobuko’s calligraphy developed. Her calligraphy and my research into Isabella Bird, particularly having her with me when travelling for the Twin Time Travel photographic exhibition programme, continued being a support for Nobuko in dealing with the unexpected tragedy that had overtaken her at the end of March 1992. One other thing I have added in this volume is putting Nobuko’s photographs alongside those featured in my In the Footsteps of Isabella Bird: Adventures in Twin Time Travel collection as well as the copperplate illustrations in Bird’s own books and magazine articles she published, and I have done this with the intention of making this book not just a personal history but a way of communicating the interest to be found in travel as an activity by way of Twin Time Travel. Ideally, therefore, this book should be read alongside my photographic compilation which shows the key features of my research into Isabella Bird in their best light. A new feature of this English edition is Part IV – Remembrances. I am most grateful to the many friends of Nobuko who have contributed their thoughts and reflections on aspects of their appreciation of Nobuko as a friend and human being, as well as on her gifts and greatness as a remarkable spirit who left us far too soon. Kiyonori Kanasaka Spring 2021

ORGANIZATION OF CAPTIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS In Part I the main captions printed in black as well as the commentaries printed below in blue are by the author.The captions in tinted blue panels were handwritten by Nobuko, sometimes with embellishments, and placed in her photo album. Unless marked ‘K’ (Kiyonori), ‘N’ (Nobuko) or ‘Y’ (Yu-ko), all remaining photographs appearing in this volume were taken by other people. The total number of photographs published here is 318, of which 214 are by Kiyonori Kanasaka, 13 by Nobuko and 9 by Yu-ko. Unmarked photographs total 82.

xii

THE LIFE OF NOBUKO

Particularly well known are the Mainichi Shodo Association and its Yomiuri counterpart, the Yomiuri Calligraphers Society, with their contrasting styles and top-down pyramid-type systems, which have the backing of these national newspapers, but there are artists who do not belong to either of these two schools and follow their own agenda. Nobuko’s study of calligraphy only started in her late forties and continued for some twenty years but it still did not extend beyond her being an aficionada of the art. Nevertheless, she applied herself to it with real intensity and I think one can see from the pieces shown here that she achieved a certain level of excellence within those parameters. I have added all the etudes which were published (with assessments to assist the reader) in the Taigen monthly magazine of the Taigen Shodo Association as good examples of her work. Nobuko was surprised to discover that there were these two systems with different styles but carried on learning to the point where she was ready to branch out with her own style and interpretation. But then, within a few years after she began her calligraphy studies, she discovered that she had a virulent form of cancer and lost her passion for the subject. Happily, she took it up again with the encouragement of Sawasaka Satomi and even held two exhibitions with friends who shared more in common than having the same illness. I am glad that I have been able trace the ‘path of learning’ along which Nobuko’s calligraphy developed. Her calligraphy and my research into Isabella Bird, particularly having her with me when travelling for the Twin Time Travel photographic exhibition programme, continued being a support for Nobuko in dealing with the unexpected tragedy that had overtaken her at the end of March 1992. One other thing I have added in this volume is putting Nobuko’s photographs alongside those featured in my In the Footsteps of Isabella Bird: Adventures in Twin Time Travel collection as well as the copperplate illustrations in Bird’s own books and magazine articles she published, and I have done this with the intention of making this book not just a personal history but a way of communicating the interest to be found in travel as an activity by way of Twin Time Travel. Ideally, therefore, this book should be read alongside my photographic compilation which shows the key features of my research into Isabella Bird in their best light. A new feature of this English edition is Part IV – Remembrances. I am most grateful to the many friends of Nobuko who have contributed their thoughts and reflections on aspects of their appreciation of Nobuko as a friend and human being, as well as on her gifts and greatness as a remarkable spirit who left us far too soon. Kiyonori Kanasaka Spring 2021

ORGANIZATION OF CAPTIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS In Part I the main captions printed in black as well as the commentaries printed below in blue are by the author.The captions in tinted blue panels were handwritten by Nobuko, sometimes with embellishments, and placed in her photo album. Unless marked ‘K’ (Kiyonori), ‘N’ (Nobuko) or ‘Y’ (Yu-ko), all remaining photographs appearing in this volume were taken by other people. The total number of photographs published here is 318, of which 214 are by Kiyonori Kanasaka, 13 by Nobuko and 9 by Yu-ko. Unmarked photographs total 82.

† PART I † The

Life of Nobuko in Photographs

1 January 1958On the porch behind Nobuko’s house. ‘We always wore our best Japanese clothes (kimono) on New Year’s Day.’ [See Map 5 Kyoto on p.110]

1 † Growing Up (1958–1970) Nobuko was born in 1946 but the earliest photograph of her is from New Year’s Day in 1958. It is a pity that there are so few pictures to show from before we met but, few though they are, they are all important for tracing the course of Nobuko’s life. Two large sketches which she drew in the album as soon as she began her second year at university make up for the lack of pictures (see p.4). And then there is the photograph of her laughing as she reads her horoscope, where she has carefully stuck the actual slip of paper in beside it, which gives it all the more meaning (see p.5). I certainly think so anyway. Nobuko also travelled extensively with friends once she went to university.

2

9 June 1959A smiling Nobuko in the back row of the classroom; in the first year at Tsukinowa Middle School. At the time Kyoto was the Mecca of liberal education. It was very unusual for any Japanese school not to have a uniform. The new term starts in April in Japan.

March 1959At her good friend Yasuko’s house, celebrating graduation day. The house behind is in the Japanese style but it also has Western touches, suited to a professor’s house.

21 June 1959Nobuko plays the Turkish March, at the Yasaka Kaikan. It was becoming fashionable to teach the piano to girls in particular.

21 June 1959Mother and youngest brother leave for a piano concert.

31 July 1965 At Matsuzaka, on a trip to Ise with Kaibori-san, a high school friend.

3

11 August 1965 At Aoyama Heights on a trip with Numata-san, a high school friend.

12 April 1966 A sketch from her album (1).

23 August 1967

A sketch from her album (2).

Camping with the camera club, at the Tango Peninsula. Nobuko, who loved summers by the sea.

4

21 October 1967Notre Dame Women’s College, Sports Day. [See Map 5 Kyoto on p.110] In 1965, 20% of women in Japan went on to university or short-course university.

This oracle slip was carefully stuck in her album along with the photograph. 29 March 1969At the Senko¯ji in Onomichi, Nobuko has fun reading an oracle slip.

The lot you draw is usually fixed to a branch of a tree in the temple precincts. It looks as if the one Nobuko has drawn is a particularly good one for her situation.

One of the things Japanese have always liked doing when they go to a temple or shrine is to buy an oracle slip and see what their fortune is.

5

2 † How We Met and Married (1970–1978) When I first met Nobuko she was doing her administration work for the Human Geographical Society of Japan at the Exhibition Hall in the Faculty of Letters of Kyoto University due to the fact that the building where the Department of Geography was located was blocked because of student unrest. I even surprised myself how little I put on airs when I was with Nobuko, but that’s the effect she had on people. Nobuko said I was not a typical Kyoto University student and that it was my jaunty youthfulness that she liked. And she often said she was impressed that I always wore a tie, and at the way my sharply-creased trousers swished. Apart from attending lectures and teaching at Do- shisha Ko-ri Middle School and the Kinki Preparatory School my time was free and our life in my parents’ house in Osaka carried on until I got my job at Fukui University on 1 April 1975. Looked at in the context of our later lives, this was an important two years for us.

6

7 March 1972At the Exhibition Hall at Kyoto University. Taking a break from society duties. K [See Map 5 Kyoto on p.110 and p.112]

3 September 1972At Wakasa Sotomo. K

July 1972In the back garden of Nobuko’s house. K

3 September 1972At Wakasa Sotomo. N

7

28 November 1972At Ko-chi Castle. K [See main map on p.110]

23 November 1972Cutting the cake at our wedding. At the New Hankyu- Hotel Osaka. The groom is dressed in the Western style, the bride à la Japonaise. The practice is then to change into Western clothes. This was a record year for weddings, with 1.1 million couples getting married. 23 November is a public holiday for Labour Thanksgiving Day.

26 November 1972At Tatsukushi, a beauty spot. K This was at a time when overseas trips were getting popular but given that I was a student we had a low-key honeymoon to Shikoku. That’s as it should be.

8

Beautiful scenery, a loving companion. What a good life!

21 December 1972In the back garden of the family home in Osaka. K [See Map 1 Osaka on p.110]

2 January 1973In the drawing room of our and our parents’ house; friends from high school have come to visit. K A sense is conveyed here of celebrating the New Year together, with renewed purpose.

9

18 Febuary 1973In the back garden of our house with Kiyonori’s younger brother Masahiro (a high-school physical education teacher). K

8 April 1973Boating on Manda-ike Lake in a nearby park. K [See Map 1 Osaka on p.110]

Bonsaied pine and plum trees in the background. The Jincho-ge (a Daphne) and Bergenia on the left still bloom in Kyoto having come with us via Fukui and Toyonaka. The plum tree still blooms here in Osaka.

4 August1974At Mt. Akagi. K A trip for Kiyonori’s fieldwork.

29 July 1973On the deck of the ‘Hakozaki’. K

October 1974In our garden. K

Japanese girls eagerly took to the miniskirt in the late 1960s after the visit of Twiggy to Japan.

The embroidery on the jacket is her own. As the economy grew apace, department stores started to host workshops for a wide variety of interests.

10

19 September 1974In the Ko-rakuen Garden at Okayama. During a trip with Kiyonori’s parents. N

14 November 1974In our garden. K Her wedding ring is on her finger. Later she took it off as it was causing ‘housewife’s itch’ Appointment at Fukui University and Moving to Sabae, April 1975

3 August1975The Echizen coast. At Kuriya in Fukui. Friends [see photo on p.9] have come a long way to visit us in their summer holidays. Now there are no more crowds thronging the beach; they’ve gone, along with the sand-dunes.

11

11 January 1976‘That’s it finished!’. In the back garden at our university accommodation. K [See Map 2 Sabae on p.110]

October 1975In front of our simple official residence for national civil servants. K [See Map 2 Sabae on p.110]

Children in the ‘Snow Country’ like building snowmen; it’s one of their favourites.

5 May 1976At Asuwa-yama in Fukui. K

17 March 1977‘At Yamashiro-Onsen. K

[See Map 3 Fukui on P.110]

From times past, the Japanese have always liked going to onsen, hot springs.Visitors can enjoy a leisurely drink there.

12

23 May 1977At our new house under construction in the suburb of Fukui. Cheaper land price (compared to a big city) was the reason why we decided to build a permanent family home – even though we were only a young couple. Moving to Fukui in July 1977

1 November 1977‘She’s got quite big’. K Four months to go before the birth.

13

3 † With our Daughter Yu-ko (1978–1986) On the evening of 7 April 1978, our heaven-sent gift arrived. Mother and child came safely through a difficult birth and we named our new daughter Yu-ko using a character for the Yu- part that means ‘gentle’ or ‘affectionate’ which is the way we hoped she would grow up. She grew quickly, the opposite to the pattern you usually see in a maternity record book, and brought us happiness and new dreams. Nobuko added a note to the photograph we took of her when she was three months old, which made this precious moment all the brighter. In her teens Nobuko seems to have had thoughts of being a story-teller and maybe there was a touch of that in what she put in that small space. That’s not something I can ever know now, but in her primary school essays she put this as an ambition. At Nittazuka in Fukui we passed many happy hours that we wouldn’t have had without our daughter. Altogether our time in Fukui where we really put down roots, what with my work, and then the two years we lived in Sabae, lasted for twelve years until March 1987.

14

7 July 1978A souvenir picture marking three months since Yu-ko’s birth. K [See Map 3 Fukui on p.110] 7 July. Today is Tanabata, (the seventh day of the seventh month, the Star Festival) coinciding with her three-month birthday. A three-month check-up at Fukui Red Cross Hospital. Weight 5650g. averaging a 38g daily weight gain. 61cm tall.

LEGEND Japanese style room with tatami Living room

Cupboard

Drawing room

Alcove

tĞƐƚĞƌŶƐƚLJůĞƌŽŽŵǁŝƚŚǁŽŽĚŇŽŽƌ Living room Kitchen

Drawing room Dining room / Kitchen

Bedroom

Study

Store room Bath

Floor Plan of Our House in Fukui.

15

Veranda

Cupboard

Laundry Entrance

Toilet

7 August 1978 Yu-ko aged four months. K 7 August. One of the photographs in the four-month-old competition. The three of us in the garden. There we are, saying cheese. Every day is hot. Kiyonori is wearing his favourite clogs (geta).

1 September 1978 ‘Look how she’s grown!’ K 1 September. Strong winds and quite cool because of the typhoon. Her grandfather has come from Osaka to see Yu-ko for the first time since leaving hospital.

16

6 September 1978Preparations for ‘Kuizome’. K The ceremony of giving a child his or her first ‘proper’ meal between 100 and 120 days after birth. In fact, the feeding part is just formal as it is more to pay respects to the household altar and the ancestors and acquaint them with this fact.

6 September. A fine day. ‘Kuizome’ is a month later than usual. It’s a special occasion and so I’ve dressed her in kimono for shrine visits; I know it’s hot for it but doesn’t she look sweet. She seems to want the ‘red rice’ and the bream so I give it all to her. I get her to open her mouth wide but it’s too much for her and she lets it all out again. She just drinks a little of the soup. The flash setting was not right and so these pictures have not come out very well, much to her daddy’s disappointment but we won’t blame him for that.

In Japan, the colour red is associated with joy and luck and therefore red is typically used for celebratory occasions. Note that Yu-ko’s kimono, bowls, chopsticks, rice and fish are all red. Bream, because of its colour, is considered a happy fish. ‘Red rice’ is achieved by boiling rice with red beans. [See p.50].

6 September 1978‘Kuizome’. Her first meal. K It’s over and we can relax a bit but here her daddy realises he’s set the flash timing incorrectly so we have a re-run in informal dress. Much effort on everybody’s part. Everybody’s put themselves out.

17

1 March 1979‘Open wide!’ K

21 March 1979At Fukui Fine Arts Museum, the Miró Exhibition. K [See Map 3 Fukui on p.110] The museum has only been open for a year or so. 21 March. Yu-ko’s first experience of art. But she’s more interested in the people around her and is fascinated by them.

18

8 April 1979‘Delicious!’. K She’s just woken up. She’s had a good sleep and is full of beans.

3 April 1979‘Oh dear!’ N It’s not a sight one sees very much these days but then it was common to carry your baby on your back. 3 April 1979 Her daddy didn’t like a photo taken of him carrying her piggy-back, but it’s still a nice souvenir.

7 April 1979Her first birthday. K 7 April 1979. Her first birthday. Happy Birthday to Yu-ko-chan! Her daddy hurried back home to put as much as possible of this memorable day on film. But all he got was Yu-ko asleep as she’d been put to bed at 7 o’clock. That’s a year gone by, so quickly! But the time has been full of incidents. There are so many memories! Weight 9430g Height 78cm Chest 47cm Crown 44.5cm

19

18 June 1979‘You’ve always been such a good girl.’ K Just off to the hospital. Every day’s hot but she can’t have a bath and I’ve made her feel uncomfortable. But she’s not grizzling and has been a very good girl which has helped me. On 1 June, Yu-ko’s right leg was broken as a result of a mishap involving her mum and dad.

20

Recently she’s brought her book when she should be eating. I don’t know which is which, does she like her book, or dislike her food?

7 October 1979Which would you rather? Lunch? Or your book? K

She does the Rabbit Dance and sings the Gin-Gin Gira-Gira song – the Sun goes brightly down - very well. Both are typical children’s songs.

7 October 1979Really trying. ‘Yes, that’s very good.’ K

17 December 1979‘What pretty bubbles.’ K 17 December. Today’s a lovely day and she sunbathed on the verandah for the first time this winter. Without her clothes she gurgles and wriggles around. It was obviously a big treat for her. She blew lots of bubbles and had a lovely day.

Nobuko would write her memorial calligraphy [see cover and p.114] with this photograph in mind.

21

6 January 1980Back from the bathhouse, all nice and warm. K The public bath has been a feature of Japanese towns and cities since the Edo period. In 1980 there were still some 1200 public bath houses in Osaka with its population of 2.65 million. Many Japanese return to their parents’ home town on New Year’s Day. 6 January. Back from the bathhouse. Look at her rosy cheeks. She loves the big baths there. And she knows she’ll get ice cream too.

3 February1980Drawing. K 3 February. She can’t go out to play so as you can see there are toys all over the house. She loves drawing with her mummy. Fukui is on the Sea of Japan side, so rainy days and snowy days are common throughout winter. [See main map on p.110]

22

2 March 1980The formal display of dolls and, less formal,Yu-ko’s friends (favourite toys, that is). K 3 March, the Doll Festival. An important event wishing girls health and happiness which has its origins in the Edo period. Hina dolls are displayed in the tokonoma (alcove at the back of the zashiki, drawing room, of a traditional Japanese house) and offerings made. Here the modern version is shown – a present from Nobuko’s mother.The tokonoma is the most sacred space so it is one step higher. Every day she enjoys taking the cover (a large furoshiki) off the formal display of Hina dolls that she calls O-hima, O-hima and loves looking at them. Then she poses for the camera with her friends.

23

16 March 1980‘There, all nice and clean now.’ K 16 March. It’s a fine Sunday today so we clean all the winter mud off daddy’s bike; little Yu-ko has to help too.

30 March 1980‘Mummy does a great haircut.’ We still use the scissors. K 30 March. ‘She loves having her hair cut.’

24

13 April. The three of us went to the cherry blossom festival at the River Asuwa and bought a sapling crab-apple as a souvenir.

13 Apirl 1980Off to see the cherry blossoms along the River Asuwa. K [See Map 3 Fukui on p.110] In today’s Japan ‘Hanami’, flower appreciation, is synonymous with cherry blossom. The cherry trees stretch for 2.2km along the Asuwa embankment [See pp.32 and 110].

15 May. Yu-ko played the piano and sang songs and we had a lovely day.

15 May 1980A spirited performance! K

22 June 1980 Going to the ‘Family Plaza’ to do some shopping. K She hates hats and will only give in and put hers on when mummy does.

25

18 August 1980‘I’ll pour your beer for you.’ N

18 August. Isn’t that sweet. She’s pouring daddy a beer.

31 August 1980A letter from her granny, Nobuko’s mother, in Kyoto. K

26

31 August. Granny in Kyoto sends lots of letters and Yu-ko loves getting them. Mummy has to read them for her though.

28 September 1980 The ‘millipede’ race at Meishin Primary School. K

28 September. Today’s the local sports day. The three of us took part and did pretty well, I think. Yu-ko went in for the infant’s race. Daddy came third in the 200m. Mummy was in the ‘millipede’ race and the obstacle race – and came first, amazingly. Yu-ko made it a really fun day for us. Thank you!

28 September 1980‘Hello, Kiyonori!’ K

27

30 December. Just look at it, all this awful, heavy snow, it’s been like this since yesterday.

30 December 1980The pile of snow in the garden from raking the snow off the roof. Kiyonori climbed to the top of the roof by ladder [see p.33] K [See Essay No. 30 and p.112. The start of the so-called Big Snow of 1981]

28 January 1981Always fun! K

27 January to dawn on the 28th. A snow plough put in a grand entrance and made short work of removing the snow that papa had bravely piled up in the garden. Tackling the snow from evening and all through the night is something we’ll always remember. The Big Snow of 1981 was something else. 28 January 1981The cavalry arrives! K

28

A souvenir photo with all the people who worked through the night. What’s the smiling conversation with the council’s snow plough driver all about, I wonder? Mrs Kanasaka, you’ll be the first out, won’t you, when next year’s snow comes!

28 January 1981In front of Nishimura-san’s house, a souvenir picture of our snow-clearing efforts. K

28 January 1981That snow plough packed quite a punch. K

28 January 1981‘Ouch!’ K

Goodbye to the snow plough! It finished at about 4.30 a.m. I got carried away on the way back with joy and courage but the road was all rutted and I slipped. Gosh, that hurt!

26 February. The biggest post-war freeze, with the whole of Japan apparently in an icy grip. In Fukui the temperature fell to -4.9˚c Our boiler froze and we had to rely on the public bath. The amount of snow that fell between 26 December and 28 February totalled 625cm. The greatest amount of snow on one day was 196cm on 15 January.

26 February 1981A frozen-hard morning. K

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March 1981High jinks. K It was much more fun to go back to the traditional way of sleeping under a duvet in the living room on the ground floor than upstairs in the bedroom. All bedding is stored in the cupboard which can be seen running along the back wall. This is a traditional Japanese way of living. [See Essay No. 13]

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Visiting one’s patron deity’s shrine to ask that one’s children will grow up healthy, when girls are 3 and 7 (boys 5 and 7). It is still a ceremony widely practised. Yu-ko is holding a Chitose-ame rice jelly as a good luck token. Note that everyone is wearing kimono. 1 November 1981Fukui, Shinmei Shrine, a shrine visit on the 7-5-3 (Shichi-go-san) festival day. With grandma from Osaka. K [See Map 3 Fukui on p.110]

Nobuko’s hairstyle matches her kimono. Both Nobuko and Yu-ko are wearing Japanese socks (tabi). 3 November 1981‘How’s this, Daddy?’ K

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9 April 1982The row of cherry trees along the River Asuwa. [See Map 3 Fukui on p.110]

12 April 1982On the ladder, with her favourite carp streamer koinobori. K These become horizontal when the wind blows and flutter like a swimmer.

Look how good she is at climbing right up to the top of the ladder. Lately, she’s reached the stage where she wants to take on anything.This year, she’s been given her favourite carp streamer again, even though the carp is the symbol used at the boys’ festival (5 May) and not at the girls’ festival (3 March. See p.23). Yu-ko wants to be a free spirit running across the sky – just like this streamer. It is my wish too, as her mother, that she should be.

Sunday 9 May It was lovely weather and so we decided we’d go cycling and hiking up Asuwa-yama. At the top we found this sacred pool, called Tema-ga-ike. 9 May 1982The lake at the top of Asuwa-yama. ‘That’s it, strike a pose!’ K [See Map 3 Fukui on p.110] It was when I visited this spot in 2019 with my friends [See p.9] as a Twin Time Travel of Nobuko’s life that I discovered it is reputed to have had a connection with Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

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28 May. A fine day. It was really hot, like a day in mid-summer. The kindergarten went on a picnic to Shibamasa. She’s in her matching gym kit. Everyone’s in their gym kit.

28 May 1982 At Shibamasa. ‘Picnics are fun.’ K Children go to kindergarten for from one to three years. Yu-ko went for three.

6 July 1983 Fukui Station. ‘Have a safe journey!’ K Seeing Kiyonori off on his first overseas study trip – three months in Turkey. Nobuko is holding Yu-ko’s swimming school bag. Yu-ko was learning the piano and swimming at this stage, both common activities.

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Febuary 1984 Ready for sleep. K 12 February 1984 Removing snow from the upper roof to protect our house. The height of Kiyonori’s position on the roof is approximately 7.5 metres above the ground. N

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12 March 1984 My younger brother-in-law’s wedding, at the To-kyu- Hotel, with my father and daughter. K As it’s a relation’s wedding Nobuko is wearing a kimono with the Kanasaka family crest.

September 1984 Picking pears at Awara. ‘Granny, they’re very nice!’ K Going to pick pears is a typical autumn activity. Trip to Singapore – The First Family Trip Abroad With Nobuko

27 March 1985 At Singapore Botanic Gardens. Nobuko’s first overseas trip. A special trip beforeYu-ko starts primary school in April. [See Fig.2 on p.110]

31 March 1985 Meal-time! After the trip to Singapore. K

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22 August 1985 Tateyama, Murodo--daira, Nobuko larking around. K [See main map on p.110]

22 August 1985 Tateyama, Midagahara. K Midagahara stands at 1600-2000m. In the background is the impressive bulk and famous alpine marsh of Tateyama (3015m).

October 1985 Fukui Sports Park. With Takamiyama, the former sumo wrestler. K Jessie, the first sumo wrestler to come from Hawaii in 1964, was still hugely popular after his retirement in 1984.

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4 † Our Dog Koro – The new family member (1986–1994) One event stands out during our time in Fukui, which lasted until March 1987, and this was a year before that when our daughter and a friend found an abandoned puppy on their way back from school and brought him home. We called him Koro and for the next fourteen years he was an inseparable part of our family. Like our daughter this dog was given life in Fukui, but first he had to recover from a major injury sustained on the occasion of his first New Year with us which the vet had declared fatal. Yet, amazingly, he survived and lived with us all through our Fukui days and then at the new house in Toyonaka. He never ceased to bring us joy and happiness and was an indispensable companion for Nobuko who had many ‘collected moments’ with him in Toyonaka. There is a wonderful selection of photographs that show this. He is the subject of one of the essays (No. 12) which Nobuko wrote over a period of two years starting when her illness was pronounced incurable. And so I’m sure Nobuko would say ‘I love it!’ to this segment. There are fewer photographs of our daughter because she was growing up at this time. Life in Toyonaka was nice in a different way from being in Fukui and lasted for some time longer, until March 1999 when we moved to Kyoto due to my transfer from Osaka University to Kyoto University in 1996, thereby avoiding a two-hour one-way commute, not to mention the professional demands from my new appointment.

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23 March 1986 Koro, the new member of our family. K [See p.112]

13 April 1986 ‘Wait till it gets a bit cooler.’ K [See Essay No. 12]

3 May 1986

3 May 1986 ‘Lovely!’ At Kaga Central Park on the way to Toyama, Kiyonori’s birth-place. K

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One happy family. K

15 February 1987 ‘I’m sorry; you’ve been so brave!’ K A month after leaving hospital, having survived serious injury in a car accident on a snowy road on 1 January. Appointment at Osaka University and Moving to Toyonaka (April 1987)

1 May 1987 Opposite our rented house in Toyonaka. K [See p.112] Koro’s left hind leg is still not quite right due to the after-effects of the accident. His red hat is Yu-ko’s primary school uniform cap; she is about to go there. Floor Plan of Our House in Toyonaka

2 December 1987 sodden snow. K

Our new house with

[See Map 3 Toyonaka on p.110]

1 January 1988 The first sunrise seen from the veranda on the second floor. K

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26 Dcember 1987 In the back garden by the living room of our new house. K

17 January 1988 In our living room. After dinner. N [See pp.38 and 149]

Usually in Japan a dog is kept in a kennel outside but Koro was a member of the family and lived with us in the house. For heating we used electric heaters and oil stoves.

My moustache is a ‘souvenir’ from my survey trip of three months to Turkey and Syria the previous summer. Our daughter is ten, in her fourth year at primary school.

Trip to Taiwan. Nobuko’s First Trip Abroad Accompanying YuͲറko and Her Mother-in-law

5 April 1989 Taroko Gorge, on a trip to Taiwan with our daughter and mother-in-law. N [See Fig. 2 on p.111]

5 April 1989 Taroko National Park, on a trip to Taiwan with our daughter and mother-in-law. Y

November 1989 The back garden is full of flowers. ‘Koro, what’s the matter?’ K

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14 August 1990 Tsurumi Greenland, at Flower Expo’90. K The 1990 Osaka International Garden and Greenery Exposition was Asia’s first International Horticultural Exposition.

4 September 1990 Sakuraidani Primary School, a parents and children get-together Class 3,Year 6. K

February 1991 An eye-to-eye conversation. K

February 1991 ‘Mummy, I love you.’ K

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20 March 1991 Tokyo Disneyland. A family trip to mark Yu-ko’s graduation. K

20 March 1991 ‘Hi there!’ There’s been so much to see that we didn’t notice it had got dark. K

Tokyo Disneyland opened in April 1983 in what was a ground-breaking event for Japan’s leisure industry. By May 1991, 100 million people had visited it.

This is a Japanese-style drawing room which has a tokonoma [See floor plan on p.38].

27 March 1991 Dr Yamori, a teacher of mine, his wife and Palmer-san have come to see us during her overseas research at Nara Women’s University. K 1 April 1991 Having succeeded in the difficult entrance exams, Yu-ko starts at Osaka University of Education’s Ikeda Middle School. K [See Essay No. 44] Cherry blossom petals are flying everywhere. On the ground are leaves from the Zelkova tree. The school year in Japan begins in April.

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7 April 1991 ‘My Mummy’. Yu-ko’s thirteenth birthday.This living room is in Western style, but we use it as a traditional-style room by putting carpet on the floor. K

June 1991 In the porch. A big pumpkin grown in our rented allotment. K

[See floor plan on p.38]

16 August 1991 At North Karuizawa Station. ‘This milk is really good!’ K Here, we’re at a new resort area in Gumma prefecture, to the north of the well-known ‘hill station’ of Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture.

7 August 1991 At Obama Bay where the three of us present different facial expressions. K Koro was always gentle at home but when he went out he put on a determined expression, making it clear he was ‘protecting his mummy’.

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29 March 1992 The foreigner’s settlement Kitano Ijinkan-gai. Kobe, a onenight stay.

Following the incredible incident of her father’s disappearance just after retirement from his university, Nobuko cut her hair short – as seen in this photograph. 10 September 1992 Higashi Rokko-, Kobe. K

30 December 1992 Wakayama-ken, Cape Hinomisaki. A trip by car. Y [See main map, p.110]

10 January 1993 Koro likes watching television too. K

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25 March 1994 Yubu Island in the Yaeyama Group.Deepblue sea and sky. A trip just for the ‘girls’ to mark Yu-ko’s having passed the high school entrance exams. [See main map on p.110]

June 1994 At our rented apartment. First fruits. K [See p.42]

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5 † Family, Calligraphy and Travel (1994-2010) In 1989, the College of Liberal Arts of Osaka University where I was working ran a ‘Sex, Gender and Culture’ lecture series as a general course, each one hosted by a different speaker, by which time I had started the research into Isabella Bird that I had wanted to do since my internship and this entailed many excursions into the field. Following my trip to Scotland and England in 1994, I did some of my ‘Twin Time Travel’ with Nobuko.Thanks to her these were more enjoyable experiences and added to their success too. She had always liked travelling but these journeys were different from previous ones as they involved going abroad and were also connected with my photographic exhibitions, which made them all the more enjoyable for her. So these journeys, as well as the calligraphy she began in 1993, helped her to overcome the misfortune and sadness resulting from the incredible disappearance of her father just after his retirement at the end of March 1992: these were seminal events for her. Of course, we cannot compare her calligraphy with the work of people who have practised it since childhood, but what was important was that she gained confidence as her work steadily improved and the pleasure she got from being able to express herself in concrete form.There are only a few photographs that relate to her calligraphy but I have called this section what I have because this pastime was so important as a prop for the last twenty years of Nobuko’s life.

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Trip to the UK (1) for Fieldwork on Isabella Bird and Twin Time Travel

19 July 1994 We’re off the coach after a rewarding day in the Outer Hebrides. We went by taxi from Benbecula for a three-hour tour of North Uist, returned to Benbecula, then went further south to South Uist by bus and finally, after an unforgettable dinner, got the ferry from Lochboisdale to Mallaig. [See Map 3 on p.111 and p.113]

Nobuko and Kiyonori loved this landscape. [See Map 3 on p.111] 20 July 1994 At Oban against a background of nice terraced houses and prominent McCaig’s Tower. K

20 July 1994 On the deck of the ferry bound for Craigmore, Isle of Mull. [See Map 3 on p.111]

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21 July 1994 At the Normands’ house in Heanish,Tobermory. With the help of Mr Garvie of the Mull Museum we found a record in the Visitor’s Book of four visits to Aros House by Isabella Bird. In the centre of the photograph is the granddaughter of Mrs Allan of Aros, Bird’s friend.

22 July 1994 At Torosay Castle, Mull, with some friendly birds. K Twin Time Travel was going well which pleased both of us no end.

22 July 1994 On the ferry to Oban. K [See Map 3 on p.111]

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22 July 1994

Glasgow, at the Watts’s house. K

Roger and June are still the people Kiyonori’s Bird studies owe the most to. [See Remembrance No. 10]

23 July 1994

Edinburgh Castle in the background. K

23 July 1994 At Edinburgh Castle. K

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15 September 1994 A time of bliss for Koro. In our living room. [See floor plan on p.38]

15 August 1994 At Manda-ike. Koro guards Nobuko. K [See Map 1 Osaka on p.110]

20 March 1995 Wakakusa-yama. Koro is protective of everyone. On a one-night visit to Nara. K

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The iris still flowers in the garden at our Kyoto house. 11 May 1996

Our garden full of flowers. K

When her mother-in-law came to visit, Nobuko often ordered a takeaway from the local sushiya. At the right of the picture is a tray of sushi. 19 May 1996 ‘Come on then, can I have it please!’ K [See p.17]

1 January 1997 Nobuko has prepared some splendid festive food for the New Year. K Ready-made meals of this kind, eaten at New Year, are beginning to appear in department stores, but with her respect for tradition Nobuko always prepared the food herself. Prepared New Year food is packed together in red boxes. [See p.17]

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Nobuko’s Middle and High School home economics teacher’s licences issued in 1969. She was a home economics teacher for a while.

Trip to the UK (2) Fieldwork on Isabella Bird

17 July. Stayed in Brighton. This was the Jarvis Preston Park Hotel, the nicest one we stayed at on this trip, arranged by Thomas Cook. £75 for the two of us. I met Nobuko at Heathrow Airport on 16 July.

17 July 1997 Brighton, in the porch of a hotel that opened in 1965. K [See Map 3 on p.111] A Twin Time Travel trip with Nobuko, 10 days and 9 nights.

19 July 1997 On the embankment by the River Avon in Bath. K

20 July 1997 At Cardiff Castle.

Nearby is the famous Pulteny Bridge.

We had to change trains and were waiting at this station with not a soul about but there was a strike or something and so this replacement bus turned up and took us to Macclesfield.

20 July 1997 At Kidsgrove station – just two passengers.

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23 July 1997

On the Framwellgate Bridge over the River Wear, Durham. K

In the background are Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral. [See Map 3 on p.111]

23 July 1997 At the house of Professor Findley of the University of Dundee with his family. K He accepted Kiyonori as an overseas researcher. Kiyonori said goodbye to Nobuko at Heathrow on 24 July bound for Casablanca; Nobuko left the UK on 25 July. Kiyonori continued his Twin Time Travel research in Morocco and Iran, returning home on 14 August.

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29 October 1997 The Manza Prince Hotel. A trip with my mother-in-law to Lake Shirakaba, Mt. Fuji, Kinugawa Onsen and Nikko-. [See main map on p.110]

29 December 1997 In the garden of our hotel at Kurashiki. Y [See main map on p.110]

20 June 1998

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In our living room. K

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5 August 1998

On the Great Wall of China. N

5 August 1998

On the Great Wall. Y [See p.111]

15 January 1999 At the studio in Toyonaka. A family photograph on the occasion of Yu-ko’s coming of age. 15 January is Adults’ Day/Coming of Age Day. The ceremony is held by Toyonaka Municipality for men and women who have reached the age of twenty. It is not at all unusual for family photographs to be taken but there aren’t many where a dog is also present. Our daughter is in full Japanese-style dress.

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19 December 1998 Topping-out, Shinto--style, with the builders, of our new house in Kyoto. At the entrance, far left, second row, is President Kimura-san, one of Nobuko’s classmates from elementary school. [See Map 5 Kyoto on p. 110]

Site area:105.8m2 7RWDOÀRRUDUHDP2 Floor Plan of Our House in Kyoto.

DŽǀŝŶŐƚŽ