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【1】

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

Work notes and walking notes.

ーー: What a beautiful workspace you have here.

Shiono: This is my living room. The study is next door, but I hold most of my meetings here.

ーー: Today we’d like to see some of the notebooks you use and talk to you about what it means to write.

Shiono: Ah, yes, just a moment. I’ll go get them.
(He went into his study and came back with dozens of notebooks in hand.)
These are the ones I’ve used for work, and here are some I carry on my walks every morning. I take field notes when I see plants, insects, things like that.

ーー: I see you use the same kind of notebook at work and on your walks.

Shiono: Yeah, this is the only kind I use. I’ve gone through dozens, possibly hundreds of these over time.

ーー: Hundreds! When did you first start using them?

Shiono: I started when I was 34, so it’s been 38 years now.

ーー: Ah, the Kokuyo Sketch Book (Sokuryo Yacho). It’s nice that they’ve stuck with the same design since their inception.

Shiono: Yeah. Many years ago they cost 80 yen each, but now they’re about 200 yen.

ーー: Wow, that’s a nice sketch. You’ve written about it in great detail, too. Did you take these notes at work?

Shiono: I used this notebook when I worked on a documentary TV series on TBS called The New Voyage of the Beagle. As the general supervisor of the show, I was able to travel where I wanted for filming.

ーー: This cover says “1991, Namibia/Botswana.”

Shiono: Ah yes, I remember. Filming had finished for the day and I was organizing my notes in my free time back in the tent. Looking at it now, I’m impressed with how carefully it’s written.

ーー: Wow, actual bird feathers!

Shiono: That’s a flamingo. This includes the notes I took when I lived among bushmen in a village.

ーー: So you mainly took notes and made sketches for your work. Is that still the case now?

Shiono: Well, it’s no longer this detailed. When I’m conducting interviews, the conversation is typically all on tape, so while the conversation is happening I’ll jot down some names, birthdates, and anything else I’d like to confirm later on. Then when the interview is done I’ll page through my notes and check those before I sit down to write my draft.

ーー: You’ve drawn lots of pictures, too.

Shiono: During the “Artisans of China” interviews I would use pictures to make sure we were understanding each other. We were also able to use Chinese characters to communicate. There’s a drawing of an erhu here, so I probably used this picture to confirm the names of each piece of the instrument, as well as its characteristics, while I was interviewing an erhu craftsman.

ーー: I’d also like to see the fieldnotes from your walks, if I could. Do you walk every day?

Shiono: Since I moved back to this town five years ago I’ve gone to the mountain nearby every day. I grew up here, and I played at that mountain a lot when I was a child.

ーー: It must be so nice to go on a walk in the mountains every morning.

Shiono: Ah, here we go! This is my notebook from today.

ーー: I see you use a rubber band as a bookmark.

Shiono: The rubber band is very important. It helps me keep leaves and things tucked neatly into the book, and I can immediately open up to today’s page.

ーー: Yeah it’s nice flipping right to the current page.

Shiono: I came across a butterfly this morning. It looked like an Asian comma, but it wasn’t. I wondered what it was and jotted down some notes about its distinguishing features. Then when I got home I looked it up in a guidebook.

ーー: So you draw a quick sketch while you’re standing there?

Shiono: Yeah I stayed standing so I could get it before the butterfly got away.

ーー: You make a quick note in the moment and then read through a field guide at home later on.

Shiono: Even if I don’t know anything about it, if I look in the guidebook I’ll always find what I’m looking for. It’s a lot of fun arriving at a conclusion — the process is sort of a way for me to amuse myself.

ーー: Even after going to the same mountain every morning, do you find animals and plants you don’t recognize?

Shiono: Lots. Sometimes I won’t recognize a plant in the summer, but it will become familiar to me all of a sudden when fall hits and it produces fruit. I’ll even have times when I haven’t noticed something before, but I come to see it in the very contents of what I’m writing.

ーー: Wow, so you’ll only notice something because you were already writing about it.

Shiono: To write, you have to be really observant. That’s an important skill when it comes to my work, and it’s a skill I also use when meeting with other people.

(To be continued)

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