It's hard to predict when Tsuyoshi Yumoto will be sitting on the pavement outside Harajuku Station, just before the right-hand turn toward Meiji Shrine. It depends on the weather, you see, and what else he is up to in life.

He is there on this day, however, and on request creates a gift for my grandson in Toronto. All he needs from me is the name and a while to think about it.

So saying, he takes a square sheet of washi paper from a neat pile, and lays it before him. He takes up his pen, moistens the tip and prepares his inkstone and then gently turns his face to the sky.