This morning was very cold, and it really feels like winter is finally starting. On days like this, the weather is usually clear, and today was the same. Since the daylight hours are short, the sunshine during the day feels warmer and more precious. Yesterday, I went out early in the morning and didn’t return until late at night (around 9 p.m.), so it was a long day out. When I meet different people and listen to their stories, I feel like I can better understand the overall mood of the world. What I want to create is important, of course, but I thought it is also valuable to know what kind of things move people’s hearts.
Since I didn’t do any work yesterday, I went to the workshop around noon today and did a little work. The 5-sun 36-steps box, which was almost finished, is now completely finished today. It looks like I will be able to deliver it early next week.
I’m also making progress on the 6-sun box. I had been thinking about how to decorate the top and bottom panels this time, and I decided to use the poplar panels I made the other day as the base, and then embed solid wood lines or yosegi into them. Today I cut the panels to the required thickness, but since the boards are fairly large, I felt they should dry a little more. I bought this poplar wood quite a long time ago, so I believe it is already well-dried as lumber, but once it is cut into thinner sheets, things can change. The boards can warp or shrink, so I think I will let them rest in board form for a little longer. After the main body of the box is finished, I plan to do the decorative work on the panels.
And this time, I decided to use a “random grain” design again for the bottom panels by combining two types of wood. I will be using materials purchased from a new supplier, and I plan to use those for this project. The two woods are walnut and makore. I haven’t seen the materials yet because they haven’t arrived, so I don’t know exactly what they look like, but I hope they will be easy to work with. The reason is that the materials used for the random-grain pattern can differ depending on the woodworking company, and sometimes they don’t match well with the glue I use. I was told that the materials this time should be fine, but I won’t know for sure until I actually try. I’m half excited and half a little worried. I’ll update you again once I know more.
Today is the last day of November, and there is only one month left in this year. People everywhere are saying, “The year went by so fast.” In Japan, you can see Christmas lights all around town, and many people enjoy the season. But for many Japanese people—especially older generations—the New Year (Oshogatsu) is still the biggest event of the winter. So many are already starting to prepare for it, while also enjoying the Christmas atmosphere. I think everyone hopes to spend the remaining month of this year safely and peacefully.
