In 1989, the College of Liberal Arts of OsakaUniversity where I was working ran a ‘Sex, Genderand Culture’ lecture series as a general course,each one hosted by a different speaker, by whichtime I had started the research into Isabella Birdthat I had wanted to do since my internship and thisentailed many excursions into the field.

Following my trip to Scotland and England in 1994, Idid some of my ‘Twin Time Travel’ with Nobuko.Thanks to her these were more enjoyable experiencesand added to their success too. She had always likedtravelling but these journeys were different fromprevious ones as they involved going abroad and werealso connected with my photographic exhibitions,which made them all the more enjoyable for her.

So these journeys, as well as the calligraphy she beganin 1993, helped her to overcome the misfortune andsadness resulting from the incredible disappearanceof her father just after his retirement at the endof March 1992: these were seminal events for her. Ofcourse, we cannot compare her calligraphy with thework of people who have practised it sincechildhood, but what was important was that shegained confidence as her work steadily improved andthe pleasure she got from being able to expressherself in concrete form. There are only a fewphotographs that relate to her calligraphy but Ihave called this section what I have because thispastime was so important as a prop for the lasttwenty years of Nobuko's life.