What Ogata Korin’s Masterpiece Wind God and Thunder God Screens Teaches Us About the True Value of Life
Announcement of an Astonishing Art Experience That Will Revolutionize Your Daily Life
I know very well how busy you are every day with your work and family life.
“I feel like I’m losing sight of my life’s purpose in the repetition of every single day…”
“Appreciating paintings seems so difficult and unrelated to me…”
Have you ever felt this way?
You must be searching for a clear answer that brings you peace of mind.
Please rest assured.
There is a “special key” right here that will heal your mental fatigue and give an unwavering purpose to your life.
That is the masterpiece painted in the mid-Edo period: Ogata Korin’s Wind God and Thunder God Screens (Fujin Raijin-zu Byobu).
To you, who need relief as soon as possible, let me explain the secret of how this artwork will improve the quality of your daily life.
Table of Contents and the Overwhelming Benefits You Will Gain
Here is a list of the “clear values” you will gain from reading this article:
- Chapter 1: A Conversation Between You and Mimi Takamizawa — Why Art Solves Your Problems
- The important things you lose if you do not engage with art
- What Tokuji Munetsugu’s quote, “Working 5,640 hours a year,” teaches us about true service
- Chapter 2: The Truth Behind the Masterpiece Wind God and Thunder God Screens and Its Deep Connection to You
- Background, technique, dimensions, and meeting again at the Tokyo National Museum
- Ogata Korin’s life setbacks and the expression he dedicated to you
- Chapter 3: Contemporaneous Rivals and the Tale of the Rinpa School
- Tawaraya Sotatsu’s original work and Sakai Hoitsu’s Summer and Autumn Grasses
- The destiny hidden in the reverse side and the story of their separation
- Chapter 4: Learning the “Life of Giving” from Frankl’s Psychology and Henry Ford’s Quote
- Viktor Frankl’s “Creation of Meaning” and your right as the “protagonist” of your story
- How Henry Ford’s quote “Success is giving” brings the ultimate sense of fulfillment
Chapter 1: A Conversation Between You and Mimi Takamizawa — Why Art Solves Your Problems
A Dialogue to Answer Your Questions
“Mimi, do I really need to appreciate art?”
I can clearly picture you asking me this question.
I, Mimi Takamizawa, deeply empathize with you and answer with confidence:
“Yes, you absolutely need it. Because a wonderful work of art is a ‘guaranteed gift’ that rescues your spirit and heals your tired heart from its core.”
You might be thinking:
“What if it’s a difficult work that I can’t understand?”
The answer to that is very simple.
Suppose you touch, view, and think about a work many times, absorbing various pieces of knowledge.
If you still feel no charm in the work before your eyes, then it is a weak, poorly made piece.
A work that cannot convince you is a bad work.
A true historical masterpiece will instantly captivate the hearts of many people, including yours.
Do you know what you lose if you do not engage with art?
It is the “leisure time” that frees you from daily stress, and the “meaning of life” that allows you to live your life with pride.
Engaging with historical masterpieces is the fastest shortcut for you to shine as the “protagonist” of your own story.
Chapter 2: The Truth Behind the Masterpiece Wind God and Thunder God Screens and Its Deep Connection to You
Basic Data of Ogata Korin’s Wind God and Thunder God Screens
First, please take a look at the basic data of this eye-catching masterpiece:
- Title: Wind God and Thunder God Screens (Fujin Raijin-zu Byobu)
- Artist: Ogata Korin
- Date: 18th century (Mid-Edo Period, after 1701)
- Medium: Pair of two-panel folding screens, color on paper with gold leaf (shihon kinji chakushoku)
- Dimensions: Each screen 164.5 cm × 182.4 cm
- Collection: Tokyo National Museum (Catalog No. A-11189-1)
- Designation: Important Cultural Property of Japan
Vivid Visual Descriptions and Astonishing Composition
Please imagine standing before these two massive folding screens, 164.5 cm high and 182.4 cm wide.
In front of you spreads a flat, dazzlingly gold background.
On the right screen (right hand), the dynamic green Wind God is depicted.
On the left screen (left hand), the powerful white Thunder God stands.
Both the Wind God and Thunder God command heavy rain clouds drawn in ink.
The garments of the Wind God are violently blown toward the right.
You can visually see that a fierce wind is blowing across the screen from left to right.
The Wind God looks as though he has just flown in from the right edge, while the Thunder God stands firm before the wind generated by the Wind God.
Korin applied a base undercoating of burnt sienna (taisha) before meticulously rendering the details of their standing hair and intricate features using gold paint and ink.
“It’s breathtakingly powerful, as if tailor-made for me…”
This is the moment you involuntarily catch your breath.
[Right Screen: Wind God] ─── (Raging Strong Wind) ───> [Left Screen: Thunder God]
Green Deity Heavy Ink Clouds White Deity
Dynamic Pose Standing Firm
Ogata Korin’s Hardships and His Service to You
The artist, Ogata Korin, was born as the second son of a wealthy Kyoto textile merchant family, “Kariganeya.”
However, in his youth, he lived a extravagant lifestyle and suffered a major setback when he lost his wealth as the family business declined.
In dire financial straits, he resolved to stand on his own feet as a professional painter.
Until he achieved late success in his 50s, he experienced the rock bottom of life multiple times.
Because of this, Korin understood your pain and feelings all too well.
Precisely because he knew defeat, he poured a spirit of thorough service into his work to delight and encourage the viewer.
Korin provided a highly decorative and sophisticated aesthetic to brighten the lives of wealthy townspeople in the Edo period.
He generously poured his own individuality into creating an artwork that was traditional yet fresh and refined.
Do you realize that you, who are always working hard, need a rest?
Mimi Takamizawa’s art serves your life with utmost sincerity.
Because you have the right to obtain a “valuable” life as the “protagonist” of your own story.
This message resonates completely with the sentiment that Korin conveys to you through his work.
Chapter 3: Contemporaneous Rivals and the Tale of the Rinpa School
Dialogue with the Master Tawaraya Sotatsu
About 80 years before Korin painted his Wind God and Thunder God Screens, the genius painter Tawaraya Sotatsu created the original version.
Around 1710, Korin saw Sotatsu’s genuine masterpiece at Myoko-ji Temple.
Seeing the color application technique known as horinuri and the tarashikomi technique used for clouds and mist, Korin was utterly dazzled by its overwhelming presence.
Korin studied and copied Sotatsu’s work so faithfully that some suggest he traced it (shikiutsu-shi).
However, it was far more than a simple copy.
- Deities painted by Sotatsu: Larger eyes, giving off a somewhat unearthly, fantasy-like atmosphere.
- Deities painted by Korin: Smaller, more human eyes that clearly look directly at each other. Stronger outlines, brighter colors, and a heightened physical presence.
Korin realized that he could not replicate Sotatsu’s elusive expression of space.
Yet, by giving them distinct outlines and vivid colors, he breathed new, vibrant life into the Wind and Thunder Gods.
Acknowledging a rival’s skills honestly and using them as fuel for your own evolution—
This attitude provides a great lesson on how you should overcome obstacles when hitting a wall in work or personal relationships.
Sakai Hoitsu and the Drama of Summer and Autumn Grasses
After Korin’s death, Sakai Hoitsu, who deeply admired Korin, emerged in Edo.
Hoitsu was moved when he saw Korin’s Wind God and Thunder God Screens owned by the Hitotsubashi Tokugawa family, and he made a copy of it.
Furthermore, Hoitsu painted his own masterpiece, Summer and Autumn Grasses, on the reverse side of Korin’s screens.
- Behind the Thunder God (Front) ─── Summer grasses struck by rain (Back)
- Behind the Wind God (Front) ─── Autumn grasses swaying in the wind (Back)
The natural cataclysms brought by the gods on the front, and the fragile plants enduring them on the back.
The combination of front and back created a perfectly unified world.
In 1974, the front and back were separated into two independent pairs of screens for preservation purposes.
Currently stored safely at the Tokyo National Museum, this work embodies a tale of bonds between master and follower that transcends time.
Chapter 4: Learning the “Life of Giving” from Frankl’s Psychology and Henry Ford’s Quote
Viktor Frankl’s Teaching and a Life with “Meaning”
Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl stated in his work Man’s Search for Meaning:
“Human beings can find ‘meaning’ in life under any severe circumstances.”
Anyone can live a life of “meaning.”
If you have a purpose in life, you will never be bored from the moment you wake up in the morning until you fall asleep at night. You will no longer have empty, wasted time.
Engaging with timeless masterpieces of art is the best way to give rich “meaning” to your life.
Just by bringing to mind the dynamic energy of Korin’s Wind and Thunder Gods, your daily routine transforms into a colorful narrative.
What the Quotes of Henry Ford and Tokuji Munetsugu Teach Us About the Truth of Success
Let me share a quote that influenced me the most.
It is a famous quote by Henry Ford, the American who enabled everyone to drive a car:
“Most people think of success as getting something. But success is really about giving.”
In addition, Tokuji Munetsugu, the founder of CoCo Ichibanya, shared these words:
“Do not look sideways; dedicate yourself to management.”
“Nothing goes well from the start, so keep going without giving up. Business is daily accumulation and gratitude. Work 5,640 hours a year (15.5 hours a day, 365 days a year).”
“During my active career, I had no hobbies and made no friends. I never went to bars. I did nothing that would interfere with my work. There were times I worked 5,640 hours a year. I felt that if I didn’t lead by example, my subordinates wouldn’t work for me.”
What do these words reveal to you?
When you only think about receiving, your mind remains hungry and plagued by anxiety.
However, when you stand on the side of “giving” your energy and passion to others, your life improves dramatically.
Ogata Korin also poured his talent unreservedly into his work, “giving” the wonderful gift of emotion to you 300 years later.
There is no life more valuable than delivering excellent products, services, and artworks to many people.
A life that serves others is precisely what brings you true fulfillment.
Q&A to Answer Your Questions and Announcements
Q1: “I don’t have time to appreciate art. Will my daily life really change?”
A1: Please rest assured. Take just 1 minute right now to look at an image of the artwork.
Engaging with art does not mean being tied down in a museum for hours.
Even for a moment, immersing yourself in Korin’s dynamic composition on gold leaf stimulates your brain and resets daily stress.
This is a scientifically proven form of mental care.
Q2: “Isn’t art just entertainment for wealthy people?”
A2: That is a big misconception.
Many historical masterpieces are now preserved as public assets in places like the Tokyo National Museum, accessible to anyone easily.
The opportunity to experience genuine beauty is open equally to everyone.
Conclusion: A Special Decision That Will Make Your Future Shine
Let me share this with you once more.
Great artists of the past left behind wonderful gifts to heal your heart.
Ogata Korin’s Wind God and Thunder God Screens is waiting for the moment to meet you at the Tokyo National Museum.
Please introduce art into your life as an unwavering asset as soon as possible.
I wholeheartedly support you as you step forward into a brilliant future as the “protagonist” of your own life.
