會津八一が生前に揮毫した金石文の特質

抄録

During his lifetime, Aizu Yaichi 會津八一 (1881-1956) was involved as calligrapher in the erection of thirteen steles, six inscribed with poems and seven inscribed with calligraphy (including a bell inscription). By searching through datable drafts in his own hand, I have been able to ascertain the existence of six drafts for inscriptions on these steles, and in this article I examine these with a special focus on Yaichi's own "corrections."
  There exist one draft for a poem inscription dating from 1942 and three drafts from 1950, with no "corrections" having been made, but signs of corrections can be seen in a draft from 1953. In the subsequent draft of the poem inscription for the Niigata Branch of the Northern Culture Museum in 1955, there can be seen "corrections" on a large scale that clearly set this draft apart from earlier drafts. "Corrections" have also been made to the draft of the bell inscription for the temple Yakuriji 八栗寺, also dating from 1955. Judging from a letter addressed to Sakaguchi Kenkichi 坂口献吉 in 1955, it is to be inferred that Yaichi had no doubts regarding these "corrections" and that they were in fact made quite confidently. In other words, in Yaichi's final years a methodology for "corrections" was clearly established and also put into practice. Further, an examination of his "corrections" revealed that there were corrections suggestive of the elimination of continuity between individual letters (i.e., the separation of individual letters) in his technique relating to methods for writing kana. On this basis, I was able to conclude that by and large his ideal for writing kana was the absence of continuity.
  As a result of this examination focusing on the situation in 1955, it is to be surmised that in his final years Yaichi's calligraphic ideals existed at a level that far exceeded his abilities. This is shown by his persistent corrections to his drafts. He achieved the realization of these ideals not on paper, but in inscriptions on stone and metal. Therefore, in my view it is in the stone and metal inscriptions of his later years that the ideals and essence of his calligraphic art are to be found in a quite pronounced form.