Gazanbo Higuchi is a calligrapher that makes people feel “life” from a piece of calligraphy. From his upbringing on a journey of calligraphy to a creative passion that never falters, we’d like to present you with this energizing interview worthy of spearheading the New Year.
Interviewer: Toshiya Kubo (ICC Chief Coordinator)
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- First, could you tell us a little about your upbringing?
I was born in 1941. My family ran a pharmacy, and I was born the youngest child.
- When did you discover calligraphy?
Actually, I only have a vague impression of when I first “discovered” calligraphy. (laughing) My father used to write signs with a brush, and I must have enjoyed that from a young age.
I started elementary school in 1948, and my teacher there became my first calligraphy teacher. When I was in first grade, children were given the opportunity to stay after school to write calligraphy if they wanted. I did, and wrote the character 芋, meaning potato. That was the first letter I wrote.
Sixty-seven years old today, he can still gracefully swish a 22-pound brush.
- What path did you take to arrive where you are now?
When I was in eighth grade, I entered a contest called the Hokkaido Children’s Calligraphy Exhibit. I received an honorable mention and attended the event. Then, on the back wall, I saw a kind of calligraphy that I’d never seen before. It looked like it had been drawn with an old rag. When I saw it, I felt as if I had been hit hard in the back of the head.
- This is the turning point you once spoke about?
Yes. Then, I found out by coincidence that there was a teacher at a nearby high school that taught this new style of calligraphy. That was teacher Shusetsu Kanou. I decided then I would only take exams for that high school.
- Did you attend that high school and study under Kanou?
Yes. Kanou’s teachings were very unique. On the first day of class, he wrote, “森羅万象悉師” (meaning “nature always teaches”) on the black board. There’s no way a ninth grader could read such difficult characters, but he said, “Whoever understands this may go home.” (laughing)
Everyone wanted to go home, so they acted like they knew what it said. Then our teacher began to explain, “The mountains, rivers, and grass, these are all your greatest teachers,” and continued, “Not written text books, but the nature around you, everything, is your teacher.” Finally he ended, “if you understand, you may go home.” That instant, everyone started running out of the classroom. (laughing)
- Within this environment, what did calligraphy mean to you?
Rather than trying to write beautiful calligraphy, I enjoyed focusing my energy on the brush stroke. I’m not exactly sure. There were plenty of people just as good as me.
- So how did you first find your own style or become aware of being a calligrapher?
It must have been after I joined the Bokujinkai when I was 18.
Before the Second World War, an organization called the Shodo Geijutsusha (Calligraphy Arts Company) became the core of the calligraphy world in Japan. My teacher Kanou was in charge of the Hokkaido branch of this organization. Kanou pondered whether he could “teach calligraphy as if it was a sketch of life.” He could be considered the first calligrapher to incorporate such an artistic teaching method. Then Bokujinkai started in Honshu, and came to Hokkaido when I was in twelfth grade. That was in 1952.
Actually, the year before, Kanou had given me an introductory note to meet the leader of Bokujinkai, Shiryuu Morita. It was on a school trip, so I had to sneak out of the inn in the middle of the night to meet him. (laughing)
- So you were interested in the Bokujinkai for some time before you joined?
I was. All calligraphy books open from right to left, but the Bokujinkai’s published works opened from the left, which was very surprising to me. Even the books had an artistic element to them.
Though it was a calligraphy publication, they used an action painter’s painting for the cover, shocking both the world of calligraphy and art.
A soba restaurant Gazanbo helped produce.
- I had heard about your background before, but I feel I understand much more now.Did you begin your friendships with Seigou Matsuoka, Kansai Yamamoto, and Ryudo Uzaki at that time?
I was already 40 years old then. I had a family, and life weighed down on my shoulders in a way it never did before. It wasn’t like when I was young, simply pouring all of my energy into calligraphy. It was a different situation.
- Do you mean the world of calligraphy had changed?
That too, but I think society changed around 1970. Members of the Bokujinkai were reaching their 40’s and 50’s. Most members had their work displayed in modern art museums around the world, and their work had reached its peak.
I felt burnt out toward calligraphy when I was about 30 years old. I searched for my lost path, both professionally and personally. Until I was 40, I never made anything new or exciting. I wandered aimlessly.
- Is that when you met Seigou Matsuoka and others?
Yes. Shiryu Morita, leader of the Bokujinkai, began encouraging everyone to return to the classics. Though many new forms were invented during this time of plenty, it seemed quality was forgotten somewhere along the way. That is how we felt about society and calligraphy, as well.
At the time, Kanou had opened a dojo in Tokyo, so I began helping him when I was 37 or 38, vowing to return to the classical style and beginning anew.
As I worked at a hospital to make a living, I met a patient named Seigou Matsuoka.
This noren(store curtain) and signs are also part of Gazanbo’s works.
- Were you working at the hospital and writing calligraphy at the same time?
Yes, of course.
I was a pharmacist at a hospital and I worked at a health foods company. The doctor at the hospital happened to be a good friend to Kanou’s father, so I began working there thanks to that connection.
One day, a doctor introduced me to Matsuoka and we became friends.
- Is that how your work ended up becoming part of Matsuoka’s book?
About a year after I met him, my work became part of Matsuoka’s book called “Yuu”.
Kyoto, where he is from, is a place where daily conversation delves into topics involving the arts. So Matsuoka knew that the Bokujinkai took no pupils, was for independent calligraphers, and was a young men’s calligraphy group. He probably had an interest in me because of this knowledge. Though he didn’t know me well, he must have trusted the Bokujinkai, because he asked me, “Please write a page for my book”.
Gazanbo, beginning the New Year with a brush in hand.
- I’ve heard your accomplishments many times, but I still learn something new every time I ask a question. What do you hope for in this New Year?
For one week beginning on March 24th, I will exhibit some pieces themed after poems by the famous Zen monk Ikkyu, called “Kyo Unshu”, at the Art Point Gallery on 8th Street in Ginza, Tokyo.
The present day is economically and politically unstable. We live in troubled times. Ikkyu says in one of his books, “When looking back on history, from time to time, you can see troubled times and microcosms”. Ikkyu is of course very wise, but his words have a resonance that is something deeper than wisdom that stays within a person’s conscience. It would be presumptuous of us to say we understand exactly what Ikkyu, a man that struck at the core of a culture and led many people, meant with such words.
- There is a strong image that associates calligraphy with the traditional. A master has pupils, and he teaches one exact form. This is the image I have, but you seem to be “revolutionary” in the world of calligraphy, cutting through the old and exploring new forms. It’s very appealing.
Hokkaido is a place where many revolutionary ideas took root before and after the war. Not only this unique environment, I had an excellent teacher: Someone who would not direct my every move, but who would guide my learning with broad strokes. In my case, that applied to calligraphy.
- You have a playful heart, which to me seems similar to that of Ikkyu’s.
You may be right. I’ve always had a connection with festivals and entertainment. My predecessors led a very stoic path, but I think I may have turned out different from most of them.
- I wish you success at your exhibit in March. Thank you for speaking with us for such a long time.
Gazanbo’s calligraphy symbolizing the New Year.
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Gazanbo Higuchi
Web Site
http://www.h7.dion.ne.jp/~gazanbou/
Written by Sato Eiichi
Translated by David Neptune
