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Ishikawa-san gets going ...
Posted by Dave Bull on May 31, 2012 [Permalink]
We had a real traffic jam here the other day, with six of us all trying to work in the same small space together: Yasui-san was mounting prints for HangaClub, Tsushima-san was printing, Ishigami-san and I were putting up a new door and getting material ready for construction, and both new trainees Miyashita-san and Ishikawa-san were here.
So Tsushima-san used my workspace, and the two trainees took turns on the other printing bench, but we can't continue that way, as they waste half their time.
So I got busy yesterday and built another printing workstation, and it went into service this morning when Ishikawa-san gave it a tryout:
For those who are wondering why we aren't using the new room next door yet, it's because I will be doing more varnishing in there in a couple of days after finishing up the next batch of cases that I am making (grabbing free time in between other jobs). And as we have yet to do any work on getting a floor in place - a project that is going to be beyond our means for a while - it's just not convenient to put these stations in there yet.
Tomorrow will be another crowded day too ... I'm hoping I can get the final carving on my own current print done this evening, because I won't have a chance tomorrow. Tsushima-san and I are going to try and nail down the Yoshida design proofing, and Ayumi-san will be here for another practice session ...
And Saturday will be interrupted too - I have an interview scheduled with the Yomiuri newspaper. And that reminds me, I haven't yet talked to you about young Madoka-san, who we met at the Design Festa a few weeks back, and who started with us the other day on the difficult job of getting some publicity and promotion activities moving. She hadn't been here more than a couple of hours before she had two interviews lined up for me. I had to ask her to 'leave that phone alone for a while!'
And if you are shaking your heads in amazement at this, I can only kind of agree ... here we are, zooming towards an empty bank account at breakneck speed, and what do we do ... hire somebody else!
Added by: Marc Kahn on June 1, 2012, 4:06 am
... Yasui-san was mounting prints for HangaClub ...
You've hinted around the topic of "HangaClub" a couple of times, but haven't yet explained what it is. Do tell. Inquiring minds want to know.
Marc
Added by: Anita Cage on June 1, 2012, 4:08 am
Sounds a little like driving a car on an icy road; it takes nerves of steel to steer into a skid and not to slam on the brakes but apparently that's the thing to do.
Added by: Dave on June 1, 2012, 9:22 am
Do tell ...
Sorry about the apparent 'teasing' ... I had no intent to do that; it's just that I can't actually make any announcement until all the 'threads' are in place, and that will be a while yet. But there's no reason for any particular secrecy ...
It's a project we are starting up with the specific intention of helping me (us) recover our domestic business. Put bluntly, I'm dead in Japan. From a peak of just over $180,000 (equivalent) in prints shipped domestically in 1999 (as a one man business!), I have fallen to just over $8,000 last year.
My printmaking activities are now being supported almost entirely by the overseas connection (specifically, by the people who are reading this ... for which, many thanks!). But the high yen is killing us on that part; in the past five years alone, our currency has strengthened to the point where the $ price has to be 150% higher in order for me to receive the same amount [chart].
I used to be quite well-known here, appearing in the media any number of times a year, as you can tell from the little movie clip on this page of the Woodblock Shimbun (it's an old clip, and needs Quicktime to play ...), but these days - I can't buy publicity. There is simply nothing 'interesting' about my work any longer; Japan has become a 'normal' country in that regard, and people here are no longer in awe when a foreigner comes over to do something like this. (That's not a complaint; just an observation.)
So anyway, long story short, we're going to try a new idea for a 'business model' specifically aimed at the domestic market. (No idea whether we will open this up for overseas or not; that is still on the table ...)
'Hangaclub' is the name we are going to use for this, and the idea is both simple, and very old-fashioned. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, my parents were members of some kind of 'Book club'. At regular intervals (maybe monthly?) a little catalogue/pamphlet came in the post, with a selection of books on offer. My mother would (optionally) check off one (or some), drop the postcard in the mailbox, and get the books a short time later. I think there were even things like bookcases available, to match the books in the catalogue. You all know the idea. There were record clubs too, of course.
We're going to try the same thing, focussing at first on our selection of hagaki (postcard-size) prints. I've been doing these as Gift Prints for a number of years, but have never made any attempt to 'tie them together'. So here's the drill:
- people 'join' Hangaclub
- for the initial fee, they receive their first print, and a storage/display box
- the box holds up to ten such prints
- at regular intervals (certainly not monthly - yet!), they receive a small pamphlet/newsletter/order sheet in the post ...
You know the rest ... The pamphlet will be something 'evolved' from my current newsletter, with stories of interest, information about us and what we are doing, and of course the list of prints being featured.
We are thinking that a project like this will give people a way to get involved with our work - and be able to both collect it, and show it - without having to make the full commitment that I require for my own subscriptions.
A few things to note: at our current 'baby steps' level of print production, we ourselves can't possibly supply enough items for this catalogue, so we are talking with other printmakers about including their items too. (This is not turning out to be easy, and is one reason why this project is taking a lot of time to cook up. I want absolute control over price/quality, and the number of suppliers that I can 'trust' on these points is vanishingly small ...)
Anyway, that is enough for now ... It's 8:30 in the morning, and I have got to get downstairs and get things set up for this morning's work. I have to find Ayumi-san's paper package in the freezer (there are now five packages in there ... incredible!), and get some brushes, etc. ready for her.
Webcam will be on throughout the morning ... see you there!
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