Quick update from Asakusa ...
Added 2020-06-13 02:40:34 +0000 UTCSomething fun for you today!
Although we are still tossing and turning, trying to decide how exactly to move our activities forward in this new era, one thing has become clear - the online part of our affairs will become ever more important to us (and of course, to the fans and supporters, as that’s the only way that they will be able to ‘see’ us for quite a long time).
So with that in mind, I am very happy to announce that we have finally - after years of ‘talking’ about it - created a new section of our website devoted to ‘Show and Tell’ … displaying and explaining many of the old prints and books in our personal collection. The website is now live here.
Or jump directly to this stunning image of a old surimono print!
Wøøt!
A couple of things:
- this is the start; the framework is now in place. There are only a few dozen prints in there so far, but many many more will follow over the next couple of months.
- please note that these items are not for sale; these prints will stay in the Mokuhankan collection.
- the main thrust of the site will be the images. This is not a ‘research’ site where you will learn details of which kabuki play was performed on what date, etc. etc. It’s all about the beautiful prints!
- none of the images are scanned; everything is photographed, at very high resolution.
- some items have video links, some (one to start) will have audio (sit down together with me, and I’ll tell you why this print is so special! :-)
Although our printers and carvers have kept busy, some of the staff members who took care of the shop have had their work hours greatly reduced recently. Two of these members have now been ‘re-hired’ and have begun to work through the collection, adding items to the database and preparing images. This kind of expense doesn’t generate any direct sales revenue for us, so how can we afford to do this? Simple! These are Patreon funds directly at work ... thank you again to everybody who is supporting us through this platform!
