Falling From the Floating World

by Nick Hurst

  Lilies, Katsushika Hokusai, p.380, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Bequest of Richard P. Gale (74.1.214)

  Crow, Shibata Zeshin, p.384, © Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of Drs. Edmund and Julie Lewis, 2003 (27652)

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I have been left indebted to a number of people while writing this book. Most obviously all those whose funding brought it into existence. Every pledge was hugely appreciated for the step they took me closer to full funding, and I was lucky to receive some extremely generous support. But each also gave an emotional boost on the publishing journey which, for all its excitement, can have its lonely and bruising moments.

  There was less obvious but equally important support from others. (Great Auntie) Hazel Keyser’s parting gift funded my time in Japan writing the book and changed my life in numerous ways. My parents and sister, far from disowning me, provided support for another hare-brained scheme. The Hiratas welcomed me into their family despite my unconventional circumstances. Mio unknowingly refined the book and took my life on a new and vastly improved path. And Kimi, who despite making no conscious effort to help the book or enhance my life, has made it a far better place all the same.

  Some others provided very practical support. John Howell gave me some insight into the aftermath of losing a finger. Aiko Hiratsuka provided invaluable translation support – without which I would likely have a completely different horimono to the one I thought I was asking for. Josh Baldock shared some great anecdotes. Chris Armstrong gave very helpful feedback. And Richard Higson was a superstar creating my fundraising video.

  I’m also very grateful to Scott Pack and DeAndra Lupu at Unbound for their corrections, improvements and general support. Scott in particular for taking the project on in the first place.

  Thanks also to Emiko Hirata for the beautiful calligraphy created for the special edition print and the extra efforts of Cameron Hilker and the other Mokuhankan team members.

  Some belated thanks for my last book to Lucy Ashken, Lee Poh Chu, Richard Wei, Amar Malhas and the photographer Michael Gladstone.

  Unrelated but far more importantly, I must say the most heartfelt of thanks to Mr Giuliani and Mr Thompson’s teams at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, and the wonderful nurses from Chameleon Ward. Words can’t express how grateful I am.

  A number of wonderful writers and artists allowed me to use their work as part of the fundraising process. They are David Bull and the team at Mokuhankan, Sonia Leong, Joan Sinclair and Liza Dalby. Manami Okazaki not only provided support in this way but was pivotal to my irezumi education and put me in touch with Horitoku. The chance to work with such inspiring people made the hard work of crowdfunding a pleasure.

  For those who like the woodblock prints and are interested in owning one, there are still a handful of artisans creating them. They use identical processes and pigments to the originals, meaning the new prints look exactly the same as the artists envisaged them. You can find them at:

  Mokuhankan: mokuhankan.com

  Takumi Woodblock Studio: takumihanga.com

  The Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints: adachi-hanga.com

  Finally, I am in the dangerous position of knowing enough about aspects of Japanese culture to write about them, but not nearly enough to do so without error and possibly offence. I hope I have kept the latter in particular to a minimum as the book came from a love of the country that I hope will be passed on to others.

  A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR

  Nick Hurst spent three years training with a kung fu master in Malaysia to write his first book, Sugong, which was published in 2012. He has written for the Guardian and Time Out. He lives in London.

  Unbound is the world’s first crowdfunding publisher, established in 2011.

  We believe that wonderful things can happen when you clear a path for people who share a passion. That’s why we’ve built a platform that brings together readers and authors to crowdfund books they believe in – and give fresh ideas that don’t fit the traditional mould the chance they deserve.

  This book is in your hands because readers made it possible. Everyone who pledged their support is listed below. Join them by visiting unbound.com and supporting a book today.

  Chris Armstrong

  Jason Ballinger

  Dr Deepti Bhuwanee

  Nelly Bostock-Low

  Mark Bracegirdle

  Adam Buchler

  Rachel Butterworth

  James M Calnan

  Ed Carter

  Nick Clifton-Welker

  Laurence Collings

  Craig Cooper

  Jane Curtis

  Jerome De Silva

  Phil ‘The Duke’ Donert

  Luke Doran

  Robert Dowling

  Nick Dugdale-Moore

  Kevan Edinborough

  Michael Fidler

  Clare Franks

  Mark Sparks Bruiser Bubba Freeman

  Steve Gibbon

  David Gladstone

  Florence, Lola, Nadia and Alice Gladstone

  Joel Gladstone

  Michael Gladstone

  Simon Glover

  David Goodman

  Tom, Sarah and Leo Goodman

  Millie Graham-Campbell

  The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation

  Ed Gunner

  Jeremy Hill

  Takashi Hirata

  Philippa Holland

  Janice Holve

  John Howell

  Aleks Hughes

  Claire Hugman

  Kate Humber

  Brian and Rhona Hurst

  Jacob Hurst

  Mooki and Peter Hurst

  Rebecca Hurst

  Sam, Roz and Savannah Hurst

  Alastair Hutchison

  Matthew Irvine

  Johari Ismail

  Vin Jauhal

  Tristan John

  JoMac

  Rémy Jugault

  Vinnie Khairallah

  Dan Kieran

  Joanne Kilgour

  Blanka Kolenikova

  Ivan Langham

  Jilly Leech

  Emma Lester

  Phil Lewis

  Arthur McGibbon

  John Mitchinson

  Isabel Morgan

  David Napier

  Bruno Noble

  Krysia Oastler

  Peter Oastler

  John Osmotherly

  Scott Pack

  Clare Pattenden

  Ashim Paun

  Dan Peters

  Justin Pollard

  Tara Pritchard

  Alun Rishko

  Lucy Ashken & Duncan Rowden

  Robert Sheaf

  Duncan Smith

  Ben South

  Karen Stenning

  Nick Stickland

  Paul Stirling

  David Strafford

  David Strafford and Dr Deepti Bhuwanee

  CG Tan

  Kim Tan

  Tzvia Teller

  John Gethin & Felicity Theobald

  Dan Thwaites

  Grahame Tinsley

  Andy Todd

  Rob Veling

  Neville Wall

  Gwen Watson

  Cassy Waugh

  River Hurst Wells

  River, Tania & Matthew Hurst Wells

  Paul Willett

  Derek Wilson

  Gareth Wilson

  Benjamin Zola

  Unbound

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  All rights reserved

  © Nick Hurst, 2019

  The right of Nick Hurst to be identified as the author

  of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is pub
lished and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  Text design by Ellipsis, Glasgow

  A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978-1-78352-631-4 (trade pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-78352-633-8 (ebook)

  ISBN 978-1-78352-632-1 (limited edition)

  Printed in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK)