|
|
|
|
Christmas present with warmth
Mr. Kanai and I stand in front of the Tomihiro Museum of Poetry and Illustration. 99.12.25/ Temperature: 0 C/ Weather: Partly cloudy/ Wind Direction: E
Current Location: Kiryu City 36 24 21 N 139 19 51 E
Distance Traveled: 0 km (Rest day)In all of my 26 years today was my first Christmas spent with strangers. One might expect this to be an awkward event (it is slightly), but the warmth which I have been received from the Kanai family more than makes up for it. As part of welcoming me to Kiryu and into their home, Mr. Kanai insisted that I visit the Tomihiro Museum of Poetry and Illustration.
Christmas has a unique relationship with Japan. For the Kanai Family it means relaxing and eating nice food. "When our kids were still around we used to have cake," said Mrs. Kanai. The couple went so far out of their way as to buy a small shiny, decorative tree with a sign reading, "Merry Christmas," for me. For many young couples, Christmas is a good excuse for a date. For others it is a time to eat cake, or exchange gifts. Aside from the small Christian population in Japan, it seems to me to be an odd addition to celebrating the end of the year. To my good fortune though, on this Christmas day Mr. Kanai and I took the occasion to view the works of HOSHINO Tomihiro, a poet and painter who drafts using a brush held in his mouth.
Paralyzed by an injury when he was 24 years old, Tomihiro lost motion from his shoulders down. What followed were years of frustration and the birth of a new passion in life. Walking through the museum one could see Tomihiro's first attempts to write in Japanese using his mouth. The scribbled characters reminded me of my first days struggling to remember the incomprehensible Japanese characters. Years of practice and determination and struggle made Tomihiro an outstanding artist.
Mr. and Mrs. Kanai sit in front of their newly acquired tree, which they purchased to share in Christmas spirit with me. The museum displays make Tomihiro's progress seem very rapid. From scribbled characters his works progressed to elaborate, multi-color watercolor paintings with accompanying poems. His paintings themselves are remarkable and the poems are known to shed many a tear. To me his works show a very special ability to read nature in both flowers and humans. He seems to see both the magnificent and reality in nature. Here are two of excerpts from his larger works.
"Cosmos" (1979)
One cannot see the wind but when it blows past a tree it become a green breeze, when it blows past a flower it becomes the flower's breeze. I wonder what the breeze that just passed me will become."Asters" (1980)
"If something is true many words are not necessary There is something bright in a tiny gesture like wild grass trembling in the wind"The way he speaks of nature, his passion, and the hardships which he has gone through in order to turn the unfortunate into a dream are all remarkable. He sees the hardship and the beauty in nature and continues to live in nature's glory.
Sharing the strength, determination, and perception of nature that Tomihiro communicates through his art as well as their home the Kanai family gave me a very warming Christmas present.
What do all of you think of the two short poems I quoted? What did all of you do on Christmas?
Greg
to Top News Page of Wisdom
< >
Copyright World School Network & ECO-CLUB, 1998-99. No reproduction or republication without written permission.
Send feedback to info@wschool.net
