Sambar deer hair (山馬毫) calligraphy brushes

In 2008, the sambar deer was listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List. This affected the use of its hair for calligraphy brushes, which used to be sold with names bearing the characters 山馬 in some form. Sambar deer hair is very rigid, more rigid than horse and weasel hair, but maybe less than boar hair.

I do have a few of such calligraphy brushes made from sambar deer hair. As usual, a 500 yen coin is there for size comparison.

From right to left:

The rightmost brush with a black handle was bought at a calligraphy supplies store in Singapore many many years ago. The brush portion is 55mm long with a diameter of 12mm. It served me well when I was writing pieces on 半紙 size paper (24.3x33.4cm).

The middle three brushes were given to me by a relative. The unused one, second from the right, has a brush portion that is 45mm long with a diameter of 7mm.

 

The third one from the right has a brush portion that is 45mm long but a diameter of 8mm. I sometimes use this brush to sign calligraphy works, especially when the work is written with a large soft goat hair brush (such as this, these, and this).

 

The fourth brush from the right (or third from the left) has a brush portion that is 60mm long with a diameter of 11mm. I also use it for writing on 半紙 size paper.

Meanwhile, the two brushes on the left were bought recently when a calligraphy supplies store was clearing stock. The leftmost brush has a brush portion that is 52mm long with a diameter of 7mm, while the second one from the left has a brush portion that is 34mm long with a diameter of 5mm. I found them at a very discounted price so I thought I would get them in case I ever need something like them in the future.

Dune Part Two at Dolby Cinema

After watching Dune Part Two at an IMAX theatre, I needed to watch it at a Dolby Cinema for comparison.

Compared to my experience watching Dune Part One at a Dolby Cinema and IMAX theatre, I think for Dune Part Two, the IMAX experience was better overall. The reason is the aspect ratio. IMAX has a taller screen and this time, the movie made full use of the taller screen to show a bit more. Here, the Dolby Cinema experience lost out, since it uses the normal cinema screen aspect ratio. In terms of sound, I also felt the IMAX experience had more impact. Maybe it was just this time, but I found the Dolby Cinema sound to be somewhat softer that I remember. To give it the benefit of the doubt, I would say IMAX and Dolby Cinema are on par for sound.

In conclusion, this time, for Dune Part Two, the IMAX experience was better, but only because the movie was able to make proper use of the taller screen (compared to Dune Part One, where the IMAX part felt more like an afterthought). It is nice to have a movie advertise itself as "Shot for IMAX" and actually deliver. Still, not many movie actually deliver on such an advertising promise, so I would say, to err on the safe side, the Dolby Cinema experience is usually more consistent.

Yamada Naoko's new movie Kimi no Iro announced

Finally, we get a date on when director Yamada Naoko's new movie Kimi no Iro will premier.

Today, it was announced that Kimi no Iro will premier in Japan on 30 August 2024. A trailer has also been released, together with the names of the main cast.

 

One thing I noted was that the main cast are not voice actors by trade. Rather, they are three young actors and a more experienced one.

Official website: https://kiminoiro.jp/

 

This movie brings back the trio from Liz and the Blue Bird: Yamada Naoko as the director, with a script written by Yoshida Reiko and music by Ushio Kensuke. I am so looking forward to this. 

Random haiku

春霞 

かがやきのせて 

北陸へ

 

Note: Hokuriku Shinkansen (北陸新幹線) is being extended to Fukui today. Kagayaki (かがやき) is the name of the fastest train on this line.

Dune Part Two at IMAX

Dune Part Two opens in Japan tomorrow (yes, two weeks later from most other parts of the world). But there was actually a preview screening last week, spanning three days over the weekend, at IMAX and Dolby Cinemas in Japan. I was really excited about catching this sequel, so I worked extra hard to finish up work ahead of schedule and made time for a quick trip to the nearby IMAX theatre on Sunday.

I must say, I really enjoyed the IMAX experience this time. There was a lot more action in this film, and the IMAX speakers and larger screen really helped to improve the experience. This time, the transitions between IMAX aspect ratio and normal cinema aspect ratio were smooth, so smooth that I didn't even notice them. This was really different from my Dune Part One IMAX experience, where the transitions were really distracting.

Fans of the books will of course notice some of the changes made to the story in its film adaptation. Yes, some of these changes are core to the plot, but they did not actually changed the key message that Frank Herbert was trying to convey. I don't think they were bad changes too. I mean, we need to understand that each medium has its strengths and its weaknesses. Some things are just harder (or impossible) to properly express in a certain medium, in this case, acting by real human actors.

 

We also need to remember that, books use certain plot twists to add impact, because it is hard for books to deliver impact in plain words. However, a film has the added advantage of visual and audio effects that can be used to add impact, and an impactful plot twist in words may even up becoming overly exaggerated when there are accompanying visuals and audio.

Like the book, this movie left the story at a cliffhanger, with Paul looking like a hero, and I really hope Dune Messiah gets adapted so that we can complete the story and let people know the full message that Frank Herbert wanted to convey.

Next would be to work a bit harder over the next few days, so that I can check out the Dolby Cinema experience. 😅

It is again the season when this flower blooms また、この花が咲く季節になったんだな

「また、この花が咲く季節になったんだな」

"It is again the season when this flower blooms"

 

My small little planter has quite a few violet flowers, more than I have seen over the past two years.

Update 20 March 2024: Quite some flowers now.

Update 5 April 2024: Full bloom!

"Unless you win" vs "Unless I win"

James Clavell's "Shogun" has been adapted into a TV series (or rather, online streaming series) in 2024. This is 44 years after the previous adaptation as a TV miniseries in 1980 after the book was published in 1975.

A scene in episode 2 caught my attention. I remember Blackthorne saying "Unless you win" but in this new adaption, he said "Unless I win." The scene was also different. It was decades ago since I read the book, so I pulled out a copy to check if my memory had failed me.

In the book, this was the scene when they were talking about how the Protestant Dutch rebelled against Catholic Spain's rule.

"There are no 'mitigating circumstances' when it comes to rebellion against a sovereign lord."
"Unless you win."
Toranaga looked intently at him. Then laughed uproariously. He said something to Hiro-matsu through his laughter and Hiro-matsu nodded.
"Yes, Mister Foreigner with the impossible name, yes. You named the one mitigating factor."

In episode 2 of this new adaptation, they were talking about the Dutch and English fighting against Spain and Portugal, without touching on the rebellion part. Toranaga said, "You are outnumbered. It is hopeless."

To which Blackthorne replied, "Unless I win."

Personally, I think this change was to avoid any hints of "rebellion" since such a reference would probably ruin the show's chance of ever being allowed in China. You can't really blame the producers; China is a big market.

 

At the same time, I thought it was a very very skillful change. I mean, the context is different but Blackthorne's answer still retains that same impact on Toranaga. Remember, Toranaga was in danger at that time, facing impeachment from the Council of Regents which would probably mean his death (and his family too). Fighting against the Council of Regents would be seen as rebellion. At the same time, it was four against one in the council, so Toranaga was also outnumbered. Blackthorne's answer in the book struck a note in Toranaga's heart. Yes, it may not look good to be a rebel, but then, it is the victors that write the history books, so all the Dutch (or Toranaga) had to do was to win. In the new adaptation, Toranaga was outnumbered by the council and it looked hopeless for him, but he was given a timely reminder by Blackthorne that nothing else mattered as long as the Dutch (or Toranaga) wins.

Looking forward to watch the rest of this series. Meanwhile, I think I will catch up on the 1980 miniseries too.

Note: A related post about adaptations and sticking true to the original work

Ordering calligraphy seal paste from Taobao

Following my experience in ordering calligraphy paper from China through Taobao, I thought I would try to place another order for some other calligraphy supplies. This time, calligraphy seal paste.

The broad chronology:

• Ordered at night on 19 February 2024
• Shipped from store on 20 February 2024
• Reached consolidation centre on 21 February 2024
• Loaded onto truck departing from consolidation centre on 22 February 2024
• Left China on 27 February 2024
• Arrived in Japan on 27 February 2024
• Cleared customs on 29 February 2024
• Delivered on 1 March 2024

This time, the order was sitting around at the consolidation centre for quite a while. I guess this is because it was ordered during the Chinese New Year period, and not everyone had returned to work yet.

 

The box was also delivered quite beaten up, with one of the sides dented. But luckily, the contents were not damaged.

 

This time, the order was for calligraphy seal paste of several different colours, plus some containers for them. The containers were well wrapped in paper and bubble wrap, so they survived the rough journey without any scratches or cracks.

Next would be to do a proper comparison of calligraphy seal pastes! Keep an eye out of my upcoming (?) post on that (which I will eventually get down to doing, once I find the time).

Suzume (すずめの戸締まり) to air on Japanese TV

It was announced that Suzume (すずめの戸締まり) will air on Japanese TV on 5 April 2024, on Nippon TV's Kinyo Roadshow slot (Friday night 9 p.m.).

／#すずめの戸締まり
🚪地上波 初放送決定🎊
＼

📺日本テレビ『金曜ロードショー』
4/5(金)21:00~23:24(30分拡大)
※本編ノーカット

エンディング部分は、新海監督が本作の企画書に描き込んだイラストを使った特別映像を初公開します！お楽しみに👀✨✨@kinro_ntvhttps://t.co/Y77ed9CURt

— 映画『すずめの戸締まり』公式 (@suzume_tojimari) February 29, 2024

The main movie itself will be aired in full. For the credit roll, it will use illustrations by director Shinkai Makoto drawn during the planning stage.