Mi chiedo se non sia finalmente arrivato il momento in cui e' necessario fermarsi per osservare bene cio' che ci circonda, camminare e' il movimento piu' importante per l'essere umano. Siamo liberi di decidere il ritmo dei nostri passi, e di percepire tutto cio' che vediamo nella sua piu' intima verita'. (back cover)

Un passo su una foglia di farfaraccio
Versi di rane. (p. 68)

Attendere... Osservare...
Va' con la schiena dritta
Continua a camminare
Corri come un filo d'erba! (p. 102)

La luna piena
Prendimela subito!
Piange il bambino. (p. 164)

Sulla montagna si fa largo tra le foglie il bramito di un cervo:
malinconia d'autunno. (p. 182)

Per caso sei diventato una formica?
Eh!
Si'. Per un attimo...
Chissa' chi le ha chiamate cosi'.
Il loro ideogramma e' composto dai caratteri "insetto" e "fedelta'".
Fedelta', o meglio "perseveranza" ...
Siamo simili... passo dopo passo... continuiamo a camminare, senza mai fermarci. (p. 193)


( )

I Go Out Walkin'
Review of the Ponent Mon hardcover edition (June 2017) translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian from the Japanese language original ふらり (April 2011)

I was previously only familiar with the late works of Japanese manga artist Jiro Taniguchi (1947-2017) through his commissioned views of Venice and Guardians of the Louvre. Those oversized and fully colorized editions have perhaps spoiled me somewhat for the earlier, smaller & non-colorized books such as Furari.

Furari is a historical fiction based on the life of Japanese cartographer Inō Tadataka (1745-1818) who was the first person to map Japan with modern surveying techniques. Through 16 beautifully structured chapters, often inspired by nature in the form of insects, fish, animals and birds, we see Inō gradually gaining inspiration for his massive mapping project under the supportive loving eye of his wife Eï. This is a gradual process which evolves from his retirement habit of counting his paces while walking and exploring his city. The panels sometimes take on a fantastical element as Inō transmogrifies into a bird flying over the land below or an insect walking through a huge jungle of grass. Those latter sections were among my favourites.

It was therefore somewhat disappointing that the book is printed in a rather small size format and is non-colorized for the most part. There is a 4-page teaser section which is colorized, as if to say "look how beautiful this book would be if we coloured it all in?". I'll confess to relying on a magnifying glass many times in order to better appreciate the care and attention that Taniguchi took on these drawings. That is my only reservation in keeping this from a 5 rating which it really otherwise deserves.

See cover at https://cv.bkmkn.kodansha.co.jp/9784063729962/9784063729962_w.jpg
Cover of the Japanese language original. Image sourced from Kodansha Comics Plus.

Trivia and Links
Read a superb review of Furari by Ilse (Belgium) on Goodreads here.

See image at https://i2.wp.com/www.maproomblog.com/xq/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ino-tadataka...
A section of Inō Tadataka’s map of Japan showing Mount Fuji and surrounding areas at 1:36,000 scale. Image sourced from Mapping a Nation: Japan's Most Famous Cartographer. ( )

Amo las obras de Taniguchi, pero Furari me ha parecido aburrido en algunos puntos ( )

poesia pura ( )