The picture postcard series "A Restaurant with Many Orders" was published by Kogensya (the craft shop Kenji Miyazawa himself named in Morioka) in 1972. They have been sold at Kogensya ever since. The series represents my first use of stencil-dyeing (katazome) for making postcards. The initiative actually came from the owner of Kogensya, Siro Oikawa. He was a year junior to Kenji Miyazawa in college, and came to love and respect Miyazawa throughout his life. I was very mindful of this association as I worked and the series will always have a very special place in my memory.

In front of the Kogensya shop there is a monument commemorating the place where Miyazawa's collection of fairy tales, "A Restaurant with Many Orders", was first published. Many visitors to the shop may be unaware of the background.

In 1924, "A Restaurant with Many Orders" was published by Miyazawa and Oikawa from Kogensya who both believed strongly in its significance. It is one of only two books published during Miyazawa's lifetime. Initially, the work did not sell at all and mountains of books piled up in the corridors. However as time passed, it became widely recognized for its brilliance and today represents the immortal work of Kenji Miyazawa. I was very touched by this story when I heard it from the Oikawa family, although it is difficult for me to explain precisely why. Perhaps it was the fact that Miyazawa's story contained such a powerful allegorical message which he wished to pass on to children and to society at large, and the growing fame of the work proved that his message had been acknowledged and understood which would surely have made him very happy.

I do not pretend that my simple postcards can do anything more than supplement the message which Miyazawa's great work conveys, but I feel some small satisfaction in knowing that my own sympathies are very much in accord with his.

Samiro YUNOKI
2th July 2001

KOGENSYA
2-18, zaimoku-tyo Morioka-shi, Iwate
tel:019-622-9894