Today, I would like to introduce “Portrait of 34 Great Craftsmen Who Have Supported Printing and Papermaking,” written by Yuki Akari.
As people who appeared in the previously introduced “’Typeface’ is Created,” are also featured here, I wanted to think about craftsmanship and work in relation to the typeface design I’m associated with in the context of the time and work of craftsmen and engineers introduced in this book. This led me to select the book.
Interviews with craftsmen and engineers who have supported typeface and printing processing, as well as papermaking are summarized in this book. Not only the content of work and their preferences, but also the details about getting that work and their lives are mentioned. In the Chapter about Shuji Mori, a typesetter, I learned that correcting the finished typesetting to add few characters must be done manually to send each typeface and dead metal backward by hand. As this is different from current typesetting, in which text can be added or copied/pasted, I cannot normally feel that characters are real “items” in terms of creating typeface on computers. Craftsmen and engineers work with care using sensations of the whole body – I thought about my own sensations at the time of creating typeface while reading this book.
There are creators on the other side of what I see and touch; the feeling of work can be felt in the content. It made me remember the surprise of learning that typeface was created by hand. This book gives significant hints for the ways of facing and thinking about work. I recommend this book to anybody who likes the craftsmanship of papermaking and printing in addition to characters.
Related to “Portrait of 34 Great Craftsmen Who Have Supported Printing and Papermaking,” here’s a comment from Mr. Suzuki of our company regarding the selected book:
For even professional-level craftsmen, most of their names remain unknown. Lucky for us, stories only the self-made 34 craftsmen in the field can tell are recorded in this book. The stories are told as portraits of their illuminating expression in the field. Chougorou Kaionji, who wrote “Japanese Master Craftsmen,” mixed historical materials with imagination to reveal the swordsmith and potter who lived in the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods. The strong-boned and simple writing suits the description of the craftsmen with inner passion. It is exquisite.
Book information:
“Portrait of 34 Great Craftsmen Who Have Supported Printing and Papermaking”
Author: Yuki Akari
Publisher: Graphic-sha Publishing Co., Ltd.
Purchase information:
http://www.graphicsha.co.jp/detail.html?p=40099
Book information:
“Japanese Master Craftsmen”
Author: Chougorou Kaionji
Publisher: Chuokoron-Shinsha, Inc.
Purchase information:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/日本の名匠-中公文庫-海音寺-潮五郎/dp/4122045584
(RK)
Series archive Recommended Book / From TP’s Stack
- From TP’s Stack: “Creation of Typefaces That Open a New Era”
- From TP’s Stack: “The Kawaraban of Edo – Identity of Media That Enfevered the Common People”
- From TP’s Stack: “Creation of Typefaces”
- From TP’s Stack: “Cultural History of the Character”
- From TP’s Stack: “The History of Mincho Typeface”
- From TP’s Stack: “Characters of Prayers” and “Characters of Cities”
- From TP’s Stack: “The World of Edo Books: Publishing Situation in Edo Read by Kibyōshi”
- From TP’s Stack: “Portrait of 34 Great Craftsmen”
- From TP’s Stack: “The History of Japanese Lettering”
- From TP’s Stack: “Johnston’s Underground Type”
- From TP’s Stack: “The Beauty of Characters and the Power of Characters”
- From TP’s Stack: “It’s Still Railroad Letters”