What does it mean to write? Writing is a very simple task one can do with only a pen and paper. And yet, the possibilities are endless. This popular series from last year comes back with a new lineup of interviewees. To everyone who is involved in writing on a daily basis, what does it mean to write?

What does it mean to write?

Yonematsu Shiono【2】
SEASON2 vol.6
Yonematsu Shiono

Taking notes and filling notebooks is
an opportunity to enjoy life.

Writer Yonematsu Shiono has been filling up small notebooks for 38 years now. He tells us all the ways he uses them — from taking notes during interviews to taking them along on walks to sketch the plants and bugs he sees along the way. As someone who writes for a living, what kinds of writing does he do in these notebooks on a daily basis? We visited him at his home in Kakunodate Town, and had the opportunity to look at dozens of his notebooks.

ProfileYonematsu Shiono

Born in Kakunodate Town, Akita Prefecture in 1947. Graduated from the Department of Applied Chemistry at the Tokyo University of Science. Writer.
Recently set up a workplace in Kakunodate Town, where he spends half his time, in order to work on his writing. Nominated for the Akutagawa Prize four times. Currently writes novels and conducts interviews with artisans. In addition to best-selling book The Life and Soul of a Tree (Shincho Bunko), he’s written Learn from Doing: Heart / Technique, Fishermen of Japan (Chikuma Bunko), Thoughts of Lost Handicrafts (Chuko Bunko), and other works. Won the Japanese Picture Book Award for Summer Pond (illustrations by Kosei Murakami).
Writings about six Chinese artisans gathered over the course of six years are available to read for free in Japanese on the Hobonichi website. Other articles include The World of Transcription: Yonematsu Shiono and The Life and Soul of a Tree, and What is an interview? Yonematsu Shiono Edition.

Table of Contents

Put a pin in it in my mind.

ーー
All of these notes are so easy to visualize. This day’s entry says, “Cloudy. The min-min cicada are in full swing and have overtaken the large brown cicada.”
Shiono
When I was young, there were no min-min cicadas. Almost all of them were the large brown type. Nowadays the min-min cicada have really taken over, and I can’t even hear the large brown cicada anymore. Looking back on my notes now, I remember that I eventually wrote a newspaper article on that topic.
ーー
So even your notes from your walks go on to serve you in your work.
Shiono
That’s not my goal when I’m making them, but sometimes these notes do find their way into a topic I’m writing about later on.
ーー
Several days later it says, “Didn’t hear a single min-min cicada on my way home.”
Shiono
I wanted to set down the last day that the min-min cicadas were out.
ーー
It’s a really clear demonstration of how the seasons are gradually changing.
Shiono
When I’m writing long stories, I like to look back on the scenes that really stand out in that way. If a boy were on that mountain, what would he see? What would have changed? If the boy was observant, the things he noticed would be the things I write in this notebook. That may be the kind of training I’m doing by taking those notes.
ーー
So it’s like gathering materials about the seasons.
Shiono
There’s no need to record every tiny little detail; what I need is to write down exactly enough for me to remember what I was observing when I need it later. If I describe a plant clearly enough that I can look up the name of it later, that’s plenty. That’s really why I’m writing things down.
ーー
Like writing key words.
Shiono
Yeah. When I was a kid, and I couldn’t remember a kanji, my mom would make me write it a hundred times. Ever since then, I’ve had this feeling that if I write something down I’ll usually be able to remember it later, so that’s why I do it.
ーー
If you write, you’ll remember.
Shiono
I’m not actually sure if the act of writing is what’s helping me to remember, but it does seem to help me put a pin in something in my mind. If I don’t write something down, I’m not really able to do that.
ーー
You mean like marking your place in an important spot in your memory?
Shiono
Yeah. For example, when I’m on road trips with my wife, she’ll load up the navigation on her phone, but I don’t really trust it. (Laughs) You can’t see the whole picture. I want to know where in Hokkaido I am, and which direction I’m currently heading.
ーー
Sure. It’s hard having a bird’s eye view with a GPS.
Shiono
That’s why I always check a map first and write down the route I’ll take. I’ll write “take a right at the convenience store,” or “turn right at the gas station and cross the river, then follow the riverbank.” Things like that. I’ll draw a diagram and make a mental note. Then when I’m driving I’ll think, “Oh, it’s that gas station. I need to turn right here.”
ーー
Wow. Do you always hand-draw maps when you travel?
Shiono
I do. I need to get the general picture in my head.
ーー
So it’s like you’re practicing.
Shiono
Right up until the day before I leave. I commit the general area to memory. But sometimes I’m off. My wife will tell me, “There’s no gas station here. Are you thinking of a post office?” And all I can say is, “Oh yeah, maybe.” (Laughs)
ーー
(Laughs)
Shiono
But that’s one of the reasons I write—to internalize the broad outlines of how something looks. I can’t help but think that’s how the brain works, when it comes to memory. Like the mechanics of writing something down are similar to the mechanics of the brain remembering something.
ーー
Lately I’ve been taking more notes by taking pictures with my phone. It’s faster to get a picture of something than to write it down. But then I forget when and why I took the photo, and it takes time to page through all the photos in my phone. Sometimes I can’t even find it.
Shiono
It’s like once you take the picture it’s out of your mind.
ーー
I feel like notes I’ve made in my techo are more firmly in my memory — like I can imagine the red text I wrote on the bottom right of the page.
Shiono
I was the same way during my exams. I didn’t know how to study for them, so I would start a whole new notebook where I’d reorganize all my notes. When it was time to take the test, I’d read a question and see the answer as, say, one of the three things I wrote on the top right of page seven of that notebook.
ーー
So you remembered it visually?
Shiono
Maybe. So when I remember a story, I can first envision my notebook and picture the day before, and then the day before that, in order. It’s a little obscure, but I try to be able to go back through my memory like that.
ーー
Like you’re mentally flipping through the pages of your notebooks.
Shiono
So these notebooks serve as drawers for me.
ーー
Oh, drawers! What a perfect metaphor.

(To be continued)

SEASON 2

SEASON 1

photos:eric