ter And ter
A Conversation betweenMURAKAMIharuki andANZAIMizumaru
M stands for MURAKAMI, A for ANZAI
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Co-operating For t time
M. Do you tion topics very often o do ing?
A. It seems so.
M. e once tried to discuss topic in t didnt actually delve into it.
A. hmm ...
M. e discussed t in certain special column. A long time ago really. t oday magazine of Cultural Publication Department.
A. Yes! I remember t picture ;t In t;!
M. You mean t? t was -
A. t time ogether!
M. e ime cting even before t!
A. In a certain cafe in Sendagaya -- troduced by you.
M. Later I invited you be to design t before t I hing more ...
A. riting columns for magazines?
M. You mean Part time Nes erwards ...
A. Yes! O book ougo be A Slo to China!
M. No! At t time, I er. oppest illustrators? So I decided to ask Sasaki Makito design covers for my long novels. In fact, I t time very seldom did Sasaki drawcovers for books.
A. looked at your book cover, it striked me as if I some tell ter. Moreover, t from tyles of otheyre so fresh!
M. Makis botoonist and painter s really courageous of me in asking o design the cover for me!
A. You were so bold!
M. Really!
A. I agree! (laughs)
M. I oo keen on imploring Sasaki Maki to I t of not turned out t I myself isfied he
cover, and it did receive a lot of good comments! Yet s fiction is different from novels. to invite some otersto of you Mizamaru Seian. At t time our works ...
A. Very cartoonish!
M. triked me as very special, t isfactory.
A. In t period I got a special desire. I didnt to drae clarity. So I tried to extract tlines of mypictures, and produced effects like t works.
M. Yes, like paste dra t time not so many people ry t method.
A. It oo, and many did not discover t was my work.
M. I didnt recognize your work even.
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tures Of Novels versus t Of S Fiction
A. It alo me inappropriate to employ a sing for t fiction. Yetsome to make yourself stand out, t yourself! I ease after I received tor telling me t Murakami liked t!
M. Many people complain t its too co design the cover for my works.
A. It simply dra it seems t I was puso produceuncommon works!
M. Actually, I used to ime I ask for o convey tely hesame when I asked for your help.
A. ts too. Everytime I drao translate my feeling into to extract t sensational. Of course I tions into all ot satisfied only if t produce a completely newimpression!
M. Youve got pretty strong intuition! You catcever ideas in ot on t rigs to leave all to you.
A. You could acquire t you get yourself trained by tising company! (smiles)
M. ts terrific!
A. Yet sometimes I too feel I could capture easily. I remember once you asked me to design for Firefly, Burn tories. You ed to c I ed to try t metoo.
M. I belong to talkative and troublesome type. I asked you to use words for expression.
A. roublesome, ing t. But you do not belong to t type. You voice out your idea at tart.top saying anyt leave all to me.
M. Makis dra;alienation.quot; to design covers for my novels and you for my s fiction is not simply job devision. to e a long novel takes nearly a yearration of energy and spirit. t remains after ting is finiss s it e several s pieces muco designafter it ligen to my explanations and t. It is from t time on I start collectingtery drafts. to ask you to design covers for my s fiction, and let you quot;generalizequot; tion ofs stories.
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ords And tea Bowl
M. I ed to try art of Firefly. But t- Garde ... (laughs)
A. ha! ha! (laughs)
M. I also like talgic mood, something resembling books published in Shouwa 30s!
A. Most of te volumes, like tarous books.
M. Os interesting!
A. old me to use Firefly, Burn tories as title, I copied it immediately andreproduced it many times until till found t sketc satisfactory. It seems t I lack profession!(smiles)
M. A good business?!
A. to tell trute dozens but still found t one t.
M. I agreed too! (laug t cover is excellent and enduring. At first to tion series. Later it ter s area reduced.
A. Its o use ried.
M. No no no - you did a good job and I like it so muc did er? O hei ho: Murakami Asahido? Very much Japanesecover!
A. t tea boea boeapots. Particularly traditional and sturdyteapots yle of beauty.
M. At last you gave ture to me.
A. stores. It looks so ea bowl.
M. Many people comment t its o guess merely on title and the bowl. (smiles)
A. do you t guess? (smiles)
M. A Slo to Cories ...
A. And riger the hei ho: Murakami Asahido ...
M. It stack!
A. At first I of using Indiana Jones.
M. tack of hod!
A. to use a gun, instead of a itle, ...
M. Somet t! t the whip!
A. Like tures!
M. I really loved t painting so muc I even t of using to decorate my new house!
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t of ting ? Sudden Attack by a Cat
M. ition of original paintings, I suddenly remembered t incident about ting.
A. O ting!
M. Once I moved to a neof er and a pile of old neo avoid dirtying ter t you told me to leave everyto you. I ed outside for 30minutes and not into took a look. And you even started drawing a single line (laughs)!
A. In fact, I ed for oted me early, I o accept it. I told myself I must do a great job, ttimes I t of being sloppiso discover t! (laugended to be an expert from tions on ty of t you to bring to me! (laughs)
M. I remember too!
A. t tried painting on ty of be excellent!
M. Of course! I bough much care!
A. On t day, I came to your neartedpainting, t scenes in movies!
I felt uneasy about t, and didnt cing. You are very considerate, and left all to me. I t I seem serious enouging so quickly. After brooding for a s of ttory of Sino-Japanese Dragons. I got so interested and started reading it ...(laug those old papers?
M. Its great, it?!
A. s so embarassing!
M. I t you could not alloo cing, like tory of Niger you took only five minutes to finising! A four-sided scroll painting, to be exact. to tell trut well-planned or did you jerry-build!?
A. ts ration ... (laughe paper beforehand, which calmed me down! (laughs)
M. Really? (laughs)
A. And t didnt take me mucime painting ...
M. Just five minutes, to be exact!
A. It ex of energy as in running ters!
M. But I didnt notice a single drop of s!
A. I deliberately!
M. I d ouched me!
A. Anys a painting which gives such pleasure!
M. You remember you complained being attacked by a cat? Its just because you dislike cats and dogs!
A. Dare you mention t! You sent your cat o ch over me!
M. I didnt mean t! It time for letting cats out!
A. quot;Letting catsquot;? I remember how I screamed for help!
M. I t it its only a cat!
A. I really love tings, and ed to try t long ago. ed the feeling was so refreshing!
M. tended to be sun and moon. But t I perceive to be!
A. ture you mention my office. I produced many, in fact, and c as t!
M. But ts really terrific! Last time our t Springs. I found in my room a painting resembling yours. But ter ed decades of experience! But t muc from yoursh only 40 years of experience!
A. Using black paint for t round sun is so appropriate!
M. In t ory, only ters belonging to noble families could produce real circles.
A. t;genuine/ legitimate circles.quot;
M. But Mizumuras circles stage.
A. Do you mean I only kno circles?!
M. Mizumuras circles er.
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Factory
M. For Factory, trations and essays ely.
A. At first I if I could publistogeto see if youre interested in h me.
M. A long time ago people o publision of my ramblings too. Only I some ed. Am I anovelist? terary ramblings of many ers al obviously mine are not so. to get it publishsomebodys else. (smiles)
A. I felt trator. Its so embarrassing to be called a painter wch!
M. I e several s stories in t. t of getting time. For instance, Late-Circle My Oisement, A Day In the Life. Also My Name is Arch.
A. I ed to drae Circle a long time ago, and so dre time. Never did I realize t you got title, too!
M. ts so!
A. Its unplanned, careless coalition!
M. Really!?
A. At t time you t of titles. One ory. te Cmas of Elep Factory. I t e Cmas of Elep Factory oo restricted to December. So ter!
M. t after quot;e Cmas On ttlefieldquot;!
A. If itute quot;Elep Factoryquot; by quot;Battlefield,quot; itd be exactly quot;e Cmas On ttlefieldquot;! (smiles) But for tarted producing my illustrations!
M. Yet surprisingly, tch!?
A. Its really an amazing book!
M. Ougo describe it as a very rare book!