Everyone
Go in the same direction.
The feeling of watching it from the sidelines.

This book is a faithful reproduction of the original handwritten notebook that Takuboku called his "gloomy notebook." The drafts written in this notebook were supposed to be the second collection of tanka poetry after "A Handful of Sand." However, before it could be published, he died young of pulmonary tuberculosis. He lived a very short life at the age of 26 and two months. Takuboku's close friend and poet Toki Yoshimaro (sorrowful fruit) and was fortunate enough to survive the Great Kanto Earthquake.Limited to 300 copiesAs a handwritten bookOn the 25th anniversary of his deathFrom Book OutlookIt was published. By the way, the "ekiden marathon" is a New Year's tradition.The name comes from the "Tokaido Ekiden Walking Race" that Toki Yoshimaro came up with while he was a newspaper reporter.

What is fascinating about this book is the realism of the book, from the feel of the book to the reproduction of the printing, which makes you feel like "this is what the notebook must have been like."The habit of dividing a poem into three lines, the use of punctuation and exclamation marks, and indentationRhythm. Not only the handwriting written with a pencil,Even the margins and spaces between the lines are very detailed.The draft is vivid and full of design.

I don't know if that's why, but this book does not have modern text typeset for easy reading, nor does it have footnotes. This book was not edited or designed without any unnecessary additions.It preserves the image of the "medium-sized notebook with a gray rasha cover" that Toki received.His direct gaze can be seen as a sign of respect and remembrance for his late best friend, who passed away without ever having the opportunity to organize or correct the psalms himself, or even to read the completed work.

If you look closely, you will see that the paper used for the main text is watermarked, and that it is high-quality paper with the watermarks "MOSES SUPER FINE" and "Portrait of Moses." If they had used poor quality paper, it would have deteriorated quickly, so perhaps they hoped to prevent it from becoming even more "gloomy." It is interesting that Saito Shozo, the editor and publisher who designed the book's binding, was also in charge of the book's binding. Saito Shozo is known for his unusual bookbinding hobby, which uses bamboo skins and umbrellas for binding, which are not usually used for books, and this may be one of his most modest publications, but that's what makes it so good. He can do this kind of unconventional work as well.

The most impressive part is the end of the book. There are over 20 "blank pages" that have not been written. This book is not a work of art, and the notebooks wrapped in a case inside the box areSimpleweakHowever, there is no other example of such a vivid and innovative binding design.



Text by Osamu Kushida