Tsutomu Mizukami Exhibition "What it is to live", which commemorated the 100th anniversary of his birth

I went to the Tsutomu Mizukami Exhibition, which is now being held in Fukui Prefectural Library. Tsutomu Mizukami is a Fukui-born novelist. (1919-2004)

There was a big panel of Mizukami's photo that shows him standing in a coat in the snow. He looked more stylish than ordinary actors. His books were displayed all over on a wall, which was overwhelming. Each book cover was tasteful. Among them, I was particularly impressed with one of "Gobancho Yugiriro", which is the title was lettered big in pale red on a white background simply.

Also, his handwritten manuscripts were exhibited. His handwriting looked soft and tender, which showed Mizukami's gentle personality. There were many red-pencil parts, of course, and I found how hard it was to finish final manuscripts.

I was touched by one sentence from an essay by him: "Looking back my childhood, I think of my poor parents who didn't talk any lessons. But now I realize that they left many better words than any other books to me."

The exhibition is admission-free, includes a precious film and sound of lectures, so you can see a compilation of Mizukami's work. It was a meaningful space and I wanted to stay there a whole day. (H.S)