{"id":5320,"date":"2025-12-07T21:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T13:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=5320"},"modified":"2025-12-07T21:00:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T13:00:58","slug":"issa_watanabe_kintsugi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2025\/12\/07\/issa_watanabe_kintsugi\/","title":{"rendered":"Every\u00adthing Can Be Repaired: A Jour\u00adney of Heal\u00ading and Recon\u00adstruc\u00adtion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Upon first see\u00ading *Kintsu\u00adgi* (orig\u00adi\u00adnal title: *The Rab\u00adbit Who Search\u00ades for Answers*), I was imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly drawn to its strik\u00ading cov\u00ader. Against a black back\u00adground, a rab\u00adbit stretch\u00ades upwards, try\u00ading to grasp a blue teacup, which floats away to the upper right. Behind the rab\u00adbit, a group of strange-look\u00ading white sea crea\u00adtures fol\u00adlow close\u00adly\u2026 The sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty and neg\u00ada\u00adtive space of the illus\u00adtra\u00adtion seem to hint at a pro\u00adfound and unset\u00adtling sto\u00adry, com\u00adpelling one to turn the pages and seek the answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

This is a word\u00adless book cre\u00adat\u00aded by Peru\u00advian artist Issa Watan\u00adabe (1980-), her sec\u00adond book pub\u00adlished after the word\u00adless book *The Migrants*. It won first prize in the \u201cSto\u00adry\u201d cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry at the 2024 Bologna Chil\u00addren\u2019s Book Fair in Italy. The judges gave it extreme\u00adly high praise, stat\u00ading that it \u201coffers a poet\u00adic alle\u00adgo\u00adry with excep\u00adtion\u00adal ten\u00adder\u00adness and depth through unique and ele\u00adgant visu\u00adal sto\u00adry\u00adtelling, con\u00adfi\u00addent\u00adly and con\u00adcise\u00adly pre\u00adsent\u00ading a jour\u00adney from loss to rebirth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read\u00ading this word\u00adless sto\u00adry is both a visu\u00adal artis\u00adtic expe\u00adri\u00adence and an open dia\u00adlogue with the soul, invit\u00ading read\u00aders to par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpate in the nar\u00adra\u00adtive based on their own expe\u00adri\u00adences and insights. The nar\u00adra\u00adtor\u2019s \u201csilence\u201d is per\u00adhaps its most cap\u00adti\u00advat\u00ading aspect, allow\u00ading each read\u00ader to dis\u00adcov\u00ader their own unique sto\u00adry. The inge\u00adnious arrange\u00adment of visu\u00adal details makes the read\u00ading process full of explorato\u00adry plea\u00adsure, while the quote from Emi\u00adly Dick\u00adin\u00adson\u2019s poem \u201cThe Hope Bird\u201d at the end of the book infus\u00ades the entire work with philo\u00adsoph\u00adi\u00adcal and emo\u00adtion\u00adal depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a book review\u00ader and an ordi\u00adnary read\u00ader, I also need\u00aded to try read\u00ading this word\u00adless book sev\u00ader\u00adal times to feel I could clear\u00adly under\u00adstand the sto\u00adry. I also found that dis\u00adcussing and delib\u00ader\u00adat\u00ading with like-mind\u00aded peo\u00adple (adults or chil\u00addren) helped me under\u00adstand more. More\u00adover, I know that the more times I read it and the more like-mind\u00aded peo\u00adple I involve, the more dif\u00adfer\u00adent ver\u00adsions of the sto\u00adry will emerge. There\u00adfore, the ver\u00adsion of the sto\u00adry I\u2019m shar\u00ading below is one that I\u2019m cur\u00adrent\u00adly using. Of course, it\u2019s just one of many pos\u00adsi\u00adble ver\u00adsions\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The sto\u00adry begins with the pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist, a rab\u00adbit, car\u00adry\u00ading two teacups, walk\u00ading towards a large table. Shar\u00ading his tea break is a small red bird perched on a branch oppo\u00adsite the table. This seem\u00ading\u00adly ordi\u00adnary tea-drink\u00ading scene car\u00adries a hint of the strange. Branch\u00ades abrupt\u00adly sprout from the table\u00adtop, as if qui\u00adet\u00adly telling a metaphor: dai\u00adly life is like this table, where peo\u00adple sit togeth\u00ader drink\u00ading tea and chat\u00adting, shar\u00ading warm moments, while the branch\u00ades sym\u00adbol\u00adize the extend\u00aded events and expe\u00adri\u00adences in life. Every\u00adday objects hang\u00ading on the branch\u00ades, such as a comb, glass\u00ades, a teapot, and a hat, seem to bear wit\u00adness to past hap\u00adpy times. The rab\u00adbit, teapot, teacups, and the stopped clock in the pic\u00adture also inad\u00adver\u00adtent\u00adly evoke clas\u00adsic imagery from *Alice\u2019s Adven\u00adtures in Won\u00adder\u00adland*. How\u00adev\u00ader, the author clev\u00ader\u00adly places these items in uncon\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal loca\u00adtions, sub\u00adtly stir\u00adring a sense of unease in the view\u00ader, mak\u00ading them eager to know what will hap\u00adpen next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, the scene changed. The red bird looked down at the table, the reflec\u00adtion of the branch\u00ades on it resem\u00adbling cracks. At that moment, the rab\u00adbit, who was pour\u00ading tea, stood up anx\u00adious\u00adly, ears back, watch\u00ading the red bird intent\u00adly. The table, stool, and branch\u00ades on the red bird\u2019s side, includ\u00ading itself, began to grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly change from col\u00ador to white. The next scene was intriguing\u2014the white bird sud\u00adden\u00adly grew a pair of human feet, its right foot draped with the table\u00adcloth, and flew away. The table\u00adcloth flut\u00adtered with its ankle, the branch\u00ades on the table dis\u00adap\u00adpeared, and the objects hang\u00ading from them scat\u00adtered to the ground. The rab\u00adbit hur\u00adried\u00adly chased after it, clutch\u00ading a small green twig tight\u00adly in its hand. This twig had once grown from the branch\u00ades of the large table, a wit\u00adness to the past and a sym\u00adbol of the rab\u00adbit\u2019s hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rab\u00adbit\u2019s jour\u00adney was fraught with per\u00adil. He encoun\u00adtered a horse gnaw\u00ading on branch\u00ades, tra\u00adversed dan\u00adger\u00adous Venus fly\u00adtraps, and final\u00adly rowed alone to a patch of dark water. Look\u00ading around, he saw only a few soli\u00adtary ice\u00adbergs. The rab\u00adbit could\u00adn\u2019t find what he was look\u00ading for; per\u00adhaps the answer lay beneath the ice\u00adbergs. So, he plunged into the water, and a dark and mys\u00adte\u00adri\u00adous under\u00adwa\u00adter world unfold\u00aded before him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a land-dwelling rab\u00adbit, the under\u00adwa\u00adter world was full of unknowns and curios\u00adi\u00adty. At first, the sur\u00adround\u00adings were vibrant with col\u00ador, but as the rab\u00adbit moved for\u00adward, the crea\u00adtures of the under\u00adwa\u00adter world quick\u00adly turned white again. The rab\u00adbit sensed the change in its envi\u00adron\u00adment; it swam past white coral reefs, its shoes get\u00adting caught and turn\u00ading white as well. The rab\u00adbit strug\u00adgled to swim upwards, final\u00adly sur\u00adfac\u00ading exhaust\u00aded. It knew that this ardu\u00adous search would ulti\u00admate\u00adly yield no answers. For\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, the small green twig it clutched in its hand was still there; hope remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This under\u00adwa\u00adter explo\u00adration evokes the feel\u00ading of falling into an emo\u00adtion\u00adal abyss amidst pain and con\u00adfu\u00adsion. The rab\u00adbit\u2019s \u201cswim\u00adming\u201d into the unfath\u00adomable depths is like enter\u00ading the sub\u00adcon\u00adscious world with\u00adin itself, search\u00ading for direc\u00adtion and strength in the dark\u00adness. Ulti\u00admate\u00adly, it decides to return to land and con\u00adfront its shat\u00adtered life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, no mat\u00adter what dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adties or predica\u00adments we encounter, the sun will still rise, even if it only illu\u00admi\u00adnates a mess. At the end of the sto\u00adry, the rab\u00adbit returns to his famil\u00adiar place, gaz\u00ading at the scat\u00adtered objects. The items that once hung on the branch\u00ades are now bat\u00adtered and bro\u00adken, and the blue teacup in the rab\u00adbit\u2019s hand is reduced to frag\u00adments. He stops, his ears slight\u00adly raised, as if he\u2019s thought of some\u00adthing, and begins to gath\u00ader the bro\u00adken pieces, attempt\u00ading to repair them. A bro\u00adken stool leg is fit\u00adted with a suit\u00adable piece of wood, a cup split in two is pieced togeth\u00ader with anoth\u00ader bro\u00adken cup, and a bowl and its fall\u00aden han\u00addle are glued togeth\u00ader to become a new teacup\u2026 The repaired objects, though bear\u00ading their scars, become unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final\u00adly, the rab\u00adbit insert\u00aded the green twig into the repaired teacup, believ\u00ading that the twig would even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly grow and the items would be hung back on the branch\u00ades to wel\u00adcome a new life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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To reit\u00ader\u00adate, the above ver\u00adsion of the sto\u00adry is mere\u00adly one pos\u00adsi\u00adble inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion and retelling. I believe that even I, at a dif\u00adfer\u00adent stage of life and with a dif\u00adfer\u00adent mind\u00adset, might inter\u00adpret it in many dif\u00adfer\u00adent ways. This depends on the mem\u00ado\u00adries I choose to com\u00adpare it with at this par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar point in time. As Gabriel Gar\u00adc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez said in his auto\u00adbi\u00adog\u00adra\u00adphy, *Liv\u00ading to Tell the Tale*, \u201cLife is not what we expe\u00adri\u00adence, but what we remem\u00adber, and the way we recon\u00adstruct it in our mem\u00ado\u00adries in order to tell it.\u201d There\u00adfore, it is cer\u00adtain that for the cre\u00adator, Isa Watan\u00adabe her\u00adself, there is also her unique ver\u00adsion of the sto\u00adry, which may even con\u00adtin\u00adue to evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Although it\u2019s a word\u00adless book, with the main sto\u00adry told entire\u00adly with\u00adout text, there are still some words inside, such as the title, title page, ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion, post\u00adscript, and pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion infor\u00adma\u00adtion. These may actu\u00adal\u00adly reveal some inter\u00adest\u00ading infor\u00adma\u00adtion. For exam\u00adple, the orig\u00adi\u00adnal title, \u201cKintsu\u00adgi,\u201d also known as \u201cKintsu\u00adgi,\u201d is a Japan\u00adese tech\u00adnique for repair\u00ading bro\u00adken porce\u00adlain using lac\u00adquer or gold pow\u00adder, orig\u00adi\u00adnat\u00ading from the Chi\u00adnese \u201cmend\u00ading porce\u00adlain.\u201d Judg\u00ading from the author\u2019s sur\u00adname, \u201cWatan\u00adabe,\u201d she clear\u00adly comes from a Japan\u00adese fam\u00adi\u00adly. Choos\u00ading this par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar tech\u00adnique as the title, besides cre\u00adat\u00ading new beau\u00adty through the repair of bro\u00adken objects in the sto\u00adry, may also rep\u00adre\u00adsent her under\u00adstand\u00ading of the \u201csabi\u201d aes\u00adthet\u00adic, close\u00adly relat\u00aded to Zen phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy and the Japan\u00adese tea cer\u00ade\u00admo\u00adny. In repair\u00ading, the cracks and flaws are exposed, allow\u00ading the read\u00ader to appre\u00adci\u00adate the imper\u00adma\u00adnence of life and the beau\u00adty of oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty that comes with imper\u00adfec\u00adtion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atten\u00adtive read\u00aders might notice a large\u00adly blank ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion page before the title page. Against a com\u00adplete\u00adly dark back\u00adground, it fea\u00adtures only a chair, a bird\u2019s nest, an egg, and a few pro\u00adtrud\u00ading leaves on the left, while the right side sim\u00adply and solemn\u00adly reads, \u201cDed\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded to my daugh\u00adter, Mei.\u201d Inter\u00adest\u00ading\u00adly, at the end of the book, on the copy\u00adright page (book infor\u00adma\u00adtion page), there\u2019s a long list of acknowl\u00adedg\u00adments on the left, dense\u00adly filled with \u201cMy Fam\u00adi\u00adly\u201d and the names of sev\u00aden rel\u00ada\u00adtives and friends, includ\u00ading her sis\u00adter, Maya Watan\u00adabe (1983-), a visu\u00adal artist. On a sep\u00ada\u00adrate page on the right, the red bird reap\u00adpears, but not on a branch; it\u2019s above Dick\u00adin\u00adson\u2019s poem \u201cThe Hope Bird.\u201d Try to guess: what is the con\u00adnec\u00adtion between the egg and the red bird? And what is the con\u00adnec\u00adtion between them and \u201cmy daugh\u00adter, Mei\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dri\u00adven by a strong curios\u00adi\u00adty about Isa\u2019s own ver\u00adsion of the sto\u00adry, I exten\u00adsive\u00adly researched her back\u00adground. It turns out she had a poet father and an illus\u00adtra\u00adtor moth\u00ader. Her father, Jos\u00e9 Watan\u00adabe (1945\u20132007), was a renowned poet and screen\u00adwriter in Peru\u00advian lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture, and also cre\u00adat\u00aded some chil\u00addren\u2019s sto\u00adries. Jos\u00e9 was of mixed race, but inher\u00adit\u00aded a love for haiku from his Japan\u00adese father. His sig\u00adna\u00adture Span\u00adish short poems, while not strict\u00adly haiku, pos\u00adsess a remark\u00adable sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty, restraint, and tran\u00adquil beau\u00adty, and can be seen as alle\u00adgories depict\u00ading the human con\u00addi\u00adtion. Per\u00adhaps we can also appre\u00adci\u00adate these qual\u00adi\u00adties in Isa\u2019s poet\u00adic graph\u00adic sto\u00adries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an inter\u00adview, Isa men\u00adtioned that the inspi\u00adra\u00adtion for \u201cMr. Rab\u00adbit Search\u00ading for Answers\u201d came part\u00adly from her father\u2019s death. At the time, she was liv\u00ading abroad, car\u00ading for her new\u00adborn daugh\u00adter, and there\u00adfore unable to see her father one last time or attend his funer\u00adal. Lat\u00ader, she received a box of items her father had kept, includ\u00ading her child\u00adhood toys and a pho\u00adto\u00adgraph of him hold\u00ading her, with repair tape on the back. These items became more mean\u00ading\u00adful in her father\u2019s absence, becom\u00ading sym\u00adbols \u201crep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading a per\u00adson\u00ad\u2019s pres\u00adence and absence.\u201d Lat\u00ader, between 2019 and 2020, she expe\u00adri\u00adenced a per\u00adson\u00adal cri\u00adsis; the break\u00ading of every\u00adday objects made her feel unbal\u00adanced, and the process of repair\u00ading these items gave her the strength to rebuild order. These expe\u00adri\u00adences ulti\u00admate\u00adly trans\u00adformed into pro\u00adfound metaphors about break\u00adage and recon\u00adstruc\u00adtion in her work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Isa favors word\u00adless books, believ\u00ading their great\u00adest charm lies in their open\u00adness. She hopes read\u00aders will fill in the blanks with their own expe\u00adri\u00adences and under\u00adstand\u00ading, con\u00adstruct\u00ading the sto\u00adry from with\u00adin. Her illus\u00adtra\u00adtions are filled with sym\u00adbol\u00adic details, espe\u00adcial\u00adly the use of neg\u00ada\u00adtive space, allow\u00ading read\u00aders to dis\u00adcov\u00ader deep\u00ader emo\u00adtions and mean\u00adings. Her cre\u00adative process empha\u00adsizes intu\u00adition and impro\u00advi\u00adsa\u00adtion rather than strict plan\u00adning. She does\u00adn\u2019t start by draw\u00ading the entire sto\u00adry\u00adboard; instead, she cre\u00adates the visu\u00adal ele\u00adments of the sto\u00adry first, then freely splices and com\u00adbines them, let\u00adting the sto\u00adry unfold nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly. Every detail in the book is hand-drawn with col\u00adored pen\u00adcils, then freely com\u00adbined to com\u00adplete the over\u00adall image. She likens this cre\u00adative method to a child\u2019s unre\u00adstrained play, a nat\u00adur\u00adal out\u00adpour\u00ading of inspi\u00adra\u00adtion. Isa is well aware that works cre\u00adat\u00aded in this way might be too per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adized to be pub\u00adlished, but she does\u00adn\u2019t care, because she believes the cre\u00adative process itself is more impor\u00adtant, help\u00ading her heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of her spe\u00adcial con\u00adcern for chil\u00addren, she prefers to draw ani\u00admal char\u00adac\u00adters, as ani\u00admal char\u00adac\u00adters are uni\u00adver\u00adsal and help sto\u00adries avoid spe\u00adcif\u00adic cul\u00adtur\u00adal and his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal con\u00adtexts, mak\u00ading the themes more glob\u00adal. At the same time, ani\u00admal char\u00adac\u00adters can soft\u00aden seri\u00adous themes, cre\u00adat\u00ading a safe \u201cfic\u00adtion\u00adal space\u201d for child read\u00aders, mak\u00ading it eas\u00adi\u00ader for them to under\u00adstand com\u00adplex emo\u00adtions and expe\u00adri\u00adences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, her abil\u00adi\u00adty to recon\u00adstruct her view of chil\u00addren in her work also stems from her expe\u00adri\u00adence as a moth\u00ader. She frankly admits that becom\u00ading a moth\u00ader was pure\u00adly acci\u00adden\u00adtal; ini\u00adtial\u00adly, she was quite fright\u00adened, but the moment she first saw her daugh\u00adter, Mei, she fell deeply in love with the child, a feel\u00ading that per\u00adsist\u00aded every day after\u00adward. Becom\u00ading a moth\u00ader changed her world\u00adview; she began to redis\u00adcov\u00ader the world through a child\u2019s per\u00adspec\u00adtive. This curios\u00adi\u00adty and won\u00adder at all things influ\u00adenced her cre\u00adations, fill\u00ading them with explo\u00adration and insight. Isa ded\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded her work to her daugh\u00adter, Mei, shar\u00ading her reflec\u00adtions on life and hop\u00ading she could find joy in it. That deep love per\u00adme\u00adates every detail of her work. I believe that in Isa\u2019s own ver\u00adsion, the main theme must be love and hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isa\u2019s quo\u00adta\u00adtion of Dick\u00adin\u00adson\u2019s poem at the end of the book is like\u00adly both a trib\u00adute to her poet father and a hope for her daugh\u00adter. The red bird perched on \u201cThe Hope Bird\u201d seems to be say\u00ading: no mat\u00adter what dark\u00adness and heart\u00adbreak one expe\u00adri\u00adences, as long as there is hope, life can be rebuilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With love and hope in our hearts, every\u00adthing can be repaired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writ\u00adten by A\u2011Jia on Jan\u00adu\u00adary 8, 2025 in Bei\u00adjing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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