On August 3, we visited Chief Priest Nakano at Ikegami Hongyo-ji Temple in Tokyo to pay our respects—it had been quite a while since we last saw him.

Whenever we come here, we always make a point of visiting the grave of Kano Tanyu, who moved from Kyoto to Edo to serve as an official court painter for the Edo Shogunate. The gravestone is shaped like a gourd, a reference to his signature.

Shiozawa feels a deep connection to the spirit of this artist, whose style is elegant and poetic, and today, he is grateful that he, too, is able to create and paint.

Today, we also offered incense at the grave of Tanyu’s wife.

The stupa of Nichiren Shonin was built after Nichiren passed away at this pond and was cremated. We reported that we had successfully delivered our third offering of paintings to the Mahabodhi Temple this year.

We believe that the spirits of the past are still alive today and watching over us.