Digital Memoranda・Masahide / 電子手控え・雅英（English）

Article Summary At a footwear shop in Fukuoka, where I had gone simply to replace a worn pair of geta, I met sandals bearing Kamakura-bori lacquerwork. Each stroke of the chisel without hesitation. The depth, neither too shallow nor too deep. The lacquer, laid down again and again with unhurried care——I was stopped, completely, by the evidence of a craftsman's hands. Inside the shop, time did not hurry. The owner's hands never paused. Something in the quality of that attention turned me back toward my own days. That night, drinking tea in the quiet, when the memory of that place returned, the noise I carry fell away a little. Category Handcrafts What I write here are single frames from a life lived in Japan. I hope they reach you in something like the feeling of sitting near embers——warmth that makes no demands. 1. What the Chisel Leaves Behind The teeth of my geta had finally worn past recovery. I had tried various remedies for the uneven wear, but the...

Article Summary Visiting a farmhouse that has endured since the Azuchi-Momoyama period, learning ancestral wisdom through implements: the irori hearth, the fire-shelf, the brazier, the sitting bench. A singular sensation called "the taste of iron," designs embedded with preparation against fire, lessons learned from experiencing a house fire. Through ongoing dialogue with objects, quietly chronicling memories of a life lived alongside flame. Category Handcrafts I document here one scene from my encounters within Japan's dwelling culture. I hope you might read this with the calm feeling of gathering around glowing embers. 1. Implements of the Old Farmhouse Our cherry tree's leaves are growing with startling speed. Though I feel the loneliness of scattered blossoms, now the tree becomes a grateful presence, creating shade. To the mountain cherry I say: "Please persevere again this year against the caterpillar invasion, and may your branches no...