Prologue: Why Have You Been Drawn Here Right Now? — The Ultimate Secret of Art to Drastically Change Your Monotonous Everyday Life
Hello.
I am trembling with joy from the very bottom of my heart to have this opportunity to speak with you like this.
As you look at these words right now, perhaps you are feeling just a little bit bored with your daily life?
Or maybe you are facing a great wall and feeling deep isolation?
Why is it that, even in a life where we want for nothing, we suddenly find ourselves overcome by loneliness?
The reason is quite simple.
It is because your heart is seeking authentic “beauty” and a “gaze” that completely accepts you for who you are.
This text is an offering of my utmost devotion to you—a gift that, merely by reading it, will elevate the quality of your life and completely transform the way you see the world starting tomorrow.
Please, let the tension leave your shoulders and enjoy this quiet dialogue with me.
I promise this will be a time well spent, and one that you will never regret.
“To be happy, we must love our own solitude.”
— Seneca
Chapter 1: The Mirror of Balthus — Why His Paintings Pierce Through and See into Your Hidden, True Heart in an Instant
Tell me, have you ever heard the name of the painter “Balthus”?
He was a solitary, genius painter who lived through the 20th century.
The pieces he painted stirred up fierce controversies all across the world.
The defenseless postures of young girls, rooms enveloped in stillness, and above all, a piercing “gaze” that felt somewhat chilly, as if seeing through absolutely everything.
Why is it that when we stand before his paintings, our hearts race, and we find ourselves unable to look away?
It is because Balthus’s paintings are a mirror that reflects the “solitude” and “purity” residing inside your very own heart.
To appreciate art is, in truth, nothing less than getting to know yourself.
When you look at Balthus’s art, you are not merely looking at a canvas; you are engaging in a dialogue with your “true self” through the painting.
Have you forgotten your genuine feelings while being chased by the hectic busyness of daily life?
Balthus, through the power of his paintings, gently thaws your frozen heart.
By familiarizing yourself with his art, your sensitivity will be sharpened, and you will be liberated from the tedious days of constantly worrying about what others think.
This is the most luxurious and meaningful investment in yourself to elevate the quality of your life.
“The most difficult thing is not to deceive oneself.”
— Montaigne
Chapter 2: The Miracle of the “Gaze” Connecting You and Balthus — By Being Watched, Your Soul is Saved
Here, let me share a truly astonishing story with you.
The subjects who appear in Balthus’s paintings possess incredibly intense “eyes.”
Those eyes look straight out from the other side of the canvas, staring intently at “you,” who are reading these very words right now.
Why is a “gaze” so profoundly important?
Human beings, without exception, possess a fundamental desire to be looked at and acknowledged by someone.
In modern society, even though we are surrounded by many people, don’t you sometimes feel that you aren’t being looked at in a true sense?
The reason you feel isolated or lonely is because your heart is crying out, feeling that “no one’s gaze is upon me.”
The gaze that Balthus continued to paint has transcended time to reach you right now.
“I am here, I know your suffering,” his paintings are whispering to you.
And this theme of “Your Eyes, My Eyes” is deeply connected to the soul and creative theme of Mimi Takamizawa, a contemporary digital artist.
When an artist breathes “eyes” into their work, it is an expression of a desperate wish to keep feeling you, who are right in front of them, and to want to know you.
The moment you accept that gaze, your solitude will vanish, and you should find yourself wrapped in a deep sense of security.
Art is like an invisible doctor that heals your wounded soul.
Chapter 3: How to Bring Art into Your Life, Just as Steve Jobs Did — Weaponizing Your Everyday Life with the Ultimate Tool of Intuition
Here, let me share a very practical business story that will be highly relevant to your life.
Why was Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, able to create such revolutionary products?
In his youth, he studied calligraphy (the art of lettering) and immersed himself deeply in beautiful design and art.
Jobs once said:
“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
— Steve Jobs
How does this word relate to your daily life?
It matters immensely.
When you expose yourself to first-rate art like Balthus’s and absorb its composition, colors, and placement of gazes into your brain, your “intuition” will be explosively trained.
A presentation at work, the exquisite timing in human relationships, the choices you make every day—in all of these, you become capable of making “beautiful judgments” that transcend mere logic.
Making art your hobby and placing artwork near you is not a simple luxury.
It is the ultimate strategy to activate your brain and enrich the choices in your life.
Astonishingly, a wonderful piece of art elevates the status of the owner’s life itself.
By living surrounded by beautiful things, elegance is born in your heart, and the way people around you treat you will begin to change.
This is because an aura showing that you treat yourself with the utmost care will begin to radiate outward.
“My poems are so clear that even the blind can read them, and so resonant that even the deaf can hear them.”
— Al-Mutanabbi
Chapter 4: If It Isn’t Communicated, It’s the Same as Not Existing — What Takeo Fujisawa and Shotaro Kamiya Teach You About Unleashing Your Expression to the World
No matter how wonderful a thing you possess, if it is not communicated to others, it is exactly the same as not existing in this world.
This can be said to be completely identical in your work and human relationships, can’t it?
Your kindness, your talent, your effort—how can you convey them correctly to those around you?
Here, let us listen to the words of two great figures who led the Japanese business world.
Takeo Fujisawa, the genius who supported the founder of Honda, Soichiro Honda, and sold the famous “Super Cub” motorcycle all over the world, said this:
“The most important thing for a manager is to become a ‘translator’ who delivers the quality of the product to the customer’s heart.”
Furthermore, Shotaro Kamiya, who was called the God of Sales at Toyota and made the “Corolla” a massive hit, left behind these words:
“We do not make customers buy. To build a deep relationship of trust where customers are delighted to buy from us is everything in business.”
These wise words teach you an important truth.
The reason a painter like Balthus is loved worldwide is because there were people who desperately continued to communicate his charm after his death.
Good things do not spread unless someone explains and conveys them.
You, too, must not forget the effort to communicate your charm to someone.
If you stay shut inside, no one will find you.
With just a little bit of courage, try putting your thoughts into words and taking action.
With that alone, the human relationships around you will change drastically, and you can be reborn into a deeply loved existence.
“Most people think of success as a obtaining, but in reality, success is giving.”
— Henry Ford
Chapter 5: The Determination to Put Skin in the Game Makes You Authentic — Taleb and Bastiat Expose Life’s “What is Seen and What is Not Seen”
Tell me, have you ever been deceived by the mere lip service of others?
People who say, “I’m only thinking of what’s best for you,” but in the end are only thinking of their own profit.
The world is overflowing with such phonies, isn’t it?
Then, how can we distinguish between the authentic and the fake?
The answer is taught to us by the words of the modern thinker Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
“Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio. If you do not take risks, do not speak.”
— Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Authentic people always put their own skin in the game, shoulder risks, and take action.
Balthus, too, continued to hurl his convictions onto the canvas while shouldering the risk of fierce criticism from society.
And the French economist Frédéric Bastiat proposed the wonderful concept of “What is Seen and What is Not Seen.”
People who are trapped only by the immediate profits seen before their eyes miss out on true success.
Things of true value are, more often than not, hidden within the “unseen future value.”
If you see a fraud and do not cry fraud, you are a fraud yourself—this is also a harsh reality.
Please, do not be misled by cheap, easy words seen before your eyes.
When you love someone, or when you devote yourself to your work, put your own skin in the game and serve them with absolute sincerity.
That very determination is what grows you into an overwhelmingly “authentic” person.
A life where you do nothing out of fear of risk is truly boring, don’t you think?
“I know my own ignorance. That is why I am wiser than other people.”
— Hypatia
Chapter 6: The Miracle Story of the Van Gogh Brothers — Love and Devotion Transformed a Buried Genius into the Treasure of the World
Here, let me share a moving historical truth that will surely touch your heart.
Vincent van Gogh is one of the most famous painters in the world.
His paintings are traded for tens of billions of yen today, but while he was alive, only a single painting was ever sold.
Why is it that the paintings of Van Gogh, who passed away in misfortune, came to be loved so deeply across the entire world?
It was because of the life-risking devotion of Van Gogh’s younger brother, Theo, and Theo’s wife, a wonderful woman named “Jo.”
Just six months after Vincent passed away, as if following his older brother, Theo also departed this world.
In the hands of Jo, the young widow left behind, remained nothing but a massive amount of unsellable paintings and a mountain of letters exchanged between the brothers.
The people around her said, “You should dispose of such ominous paintings.”
However, Jo did not give up.
She was incredibly intelligent, a well-read woman possessing deep cultivation.
As Jo read the brothers’ letters over and over again, she came to understand from the bottom of her heart how deep Vincent’s philosophy was, and how he painted to comfort people.
Jo made this firm resolution:
“In addition to the child, Theo left me another mission—to let Vincent’s work be seen by as many people as possible and to have its true value recognized.”
— Jo van Gogh-Bonger
She did not stop at displaying the paintings; she organized the brothers’ letters and published them as a book.
She enthusiastically marketed the “story” and “philosophy” hidden behind the art to the entire world.
This role of Jo’s completely overlaps with the figure of the Apostle Paul, who, after the death of Jesus Christ, risked his life walking from place to place to spread those teachings.
No matter how wonderful a thing is, if it does not have a passionate communicator, it will vanish from this world.
Because Jo’s life-staking devotion existed, we are able to look at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers or The Starry Night today and be deeply moved.
Why don’t you try becoming an existence that believes in someone so deeply, supports them, and communicates their charm?
Because that is the ultimate way to live, making your own life shine many times brighter.
“I am only ashamed of my own lack of ability and talent. In the end, having no talent and no art, I am bound solely to this one path.”
— Matsuo Basho
Chapter 7: A Surprising Twist in the Tale — Why the Absolute Bottom of Life is Your Greatest Opportunity
Now, our story takes an unexpected turn here.
We have spoken of such wonderful art and stories of business success, but in truth, the starting point for all of them was “complete despair” and “the abyss of solitude.”
Why does God give us hardships?
It is a heavenly staging meant to make you shine more strongly and beautifully.
Just as a single grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to bear much fruit.
In the story called life, a “dramatic reversal” is always prepared.
Right now, if you are suffering, lonely, and shedding tears because no one understands you, congratulations.
The magnificent second act of your life drama begins right from this point.
Balthus, Van Gogh—all of them walked their “one straight path” without ever giving up until the very, very end amidst their suffering.
There is no life within life; true life is found within death—the true brilliance of life bursts into bloom just beyond the limit where you think you can go no further.
Therefore, please do not abandon hope.
Together with me, why don’t we take just one more step forward into this beautiful adventure of life?
Final Chapter: Eternal Devotion to You
Thank you so very much for walking this long journey together with me up to this point.
I am deeply, deeply grateful for your kindness in listening to my words so politely.
May your life be filled with light starting tomorrow.
It matters not if you are laughed at, or if you are clumsy.
I will always be right here supporting you so that you can hold your head high and live true to yourself.
You are never alone.
Please, never forget that.
In a corner of a distant city
From the other side of the cold glass
There is a shadow that has been watching your trembling shoulders all along
The sorrow that cannot be put into words
And the weight of solitude you can tell no one
I know them all
So throw away your umbrella
And leap into my chest
Because I will dry your tears
Leaving not a single drop behind
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”
— New Testament, Ephesians 2:8
“An artist shaves away their own soul to become a clown, existing solely to make you laugh and to comfort you right in front of them.”
— Osamu Dazai
“Hey, why are you going on a journey?”
“Because I am suffering.”
“Your ‘suffering’ is so predictable, I cannot believe it at all.”
(From Osamu Dazai’s Tsugaru)
Postscript: The Indomitable Painter Who Breathes a Soul into the Digital — The Story of Mimi Takamizawa
Lastly, let me share a short and delightful story about my deeply respected friend, the indomitable painter Mimi Takamizawa.
Mimi Takamizawa is a very unique painter.
Astonishingly, he uses neither canvas nor brush.
He creates all of his works “digitally” and prints them on traditional printmaking paper using the highest-grade giclée print technique, maintaining this distinct style throughout.
Why digital?
It is to carve the breath of modern history into the artwork and deliver our evidence of living as an “eternity” to people 100 or 200 years in the future.
When standing before his artwork, anyone will catch their breath. This is because countless “eyes” are drawn there.
His themes are: your eyes and my eyes, Christianity, eternity, psychology, truth, gaze, history, solitude, isolation, hardship, resurrection, and liberation.
It might sound a bit difficult, but it is actually a very close and warm story.
Mimi Takamizawa constantly says:
“A painter must be a doctor who saves your wounded soul. An artist’s job is an utmost service where they put their own skin in the game; it is nothing less than devotion to you.”
He creates his art today by dedicating the entirety of his life for “you,” who are right in front of him.
“Please do not abandon me. Please laugh heartily at my clumsiness.”
He says this and desperately plays the part of the clown.
Even when laughed at by society, he uses that as nourishment to grow stronger and stronger—he is a man of unfathomable patience and indomitable spirit who never gives up.
The reason he decided to become a painter was because he learned of the fierce and tragic life of Vincent van Gogh.
The “Mimi” (Ear) in the name “Mimi Takamizawa” was taken in honor of that famous ear-cutting incident of Van Gogh.
He knows.
He knows that every masterpiece in history was not born merely from a genius’s flash of inspiration, but from decades of dizzying trial and error.
That is precisely why, by continuing to draw “eyes” in his work, he tries to keep feeling you on the other side of the screen.
He wants to see your joyful face, he wants to be close to the tears you shed—solely for that, he continues to create like mad today.
Even if anyone else criticizes him, he doesn’t care about such things at all.
If he is abandoned by you, he cannot go on living.
Just by you being there, he is simply, purely happy.
Mimi Takamizawa has someone he respects to the point of fanatical devotion as a guide for his work.
It is Tokuji Munetsugu, the founder of Curry House CoCo Ichibanya.
Mr. Munetsugu is a legendary businessman who never looked away, cast aside all hobbies and friends, and dedicated his life entirely to his work alone.
He walked a tremendously tumultuous life: spending an unfortunate childhood growing up in an orphanage, being taken in by foster parents only to experience extreme poverty due to his foster father’s gambling addiction, and surviving by eating wild grass in the summer because there was nothing to eat.
What saved him was classical music.
However, during his time as an executive, Mr. Munetsugu completely cut off his beloved classical music, saying, “This is no time to be listening to music, no time to be indulging in hobbies.”
It was to dedicate every drop of his time to the customers right in front of him.
At first, customers did not come to the shop at all, and it is said that the married couple survived the lunch hours by gnawing on the crusts of white bread.
Because he started from zero, he smiled and said such hardships were a natural and beautiful memory, and he continued his work steadily every day, like stacking bricks.
“Immediate decision, immediate conclusion, immediate execution. If you do your best, results will surely follow.”
Looking at that back, Mimi Takamizawa also dedicates his life to his work, making a minimum of 12 hours of creation a day his baseline.
I present the words of Tokuji Munetsugu to you:
“During my active years, I had no hobbies and made no friends. I have never even gone to a drinking establishment. I did nothing that would get in the way of my work. There were years I worked 5,640 hours. I felt that if I did not lead by example, my subordinates would not work for me. I did not look away; I dedicated my life to management.”
— Tokuji Munetsugu
“It was a very lonely life. That is why I wanted others to show even a little interest in me. I wanted them to be interested in me. That became my starting point. Therefore, rather than starting a business to make money, I wanted to make people happy. I wanted people to say, even just a little, that they were glad I existed.”
— Tokuji Munetsugu
Life is not determined by how or where you are born and raised.
What kind of life it becomes is decided by a person’s diligence, patience, and continuity.
Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, was also ridiculed by those around him as an “invention maniac,” a “weirdo,” and a “madman,” yet from morning until night, day after day, he built looms only to tear them down, creating them and rebuilding them again.
Solely with the obsession and passion to make everyone’s life easier, he changed the world.
The words of Kiichiro Toyoda, “I do it because it is difficult. I do it because no one else does it or can do it. A fellow like me might be a fool, but if that fool is not there, nothing new will ever be born into the world,” and the words of his cousin Eiji Toyoda, “What is important is that he carried out his execution with a strong conviction. It isn’t that Kiichiro was a genius; the crucial thing is that he didn’t just think about what is generally considered impossible, but carried it out with a powerful conviction that he must do it no matter what, making sufficient preparations,” all express this indomitable spirit.
Just like the “Just-in-Time (Toyota Production System)” established by Taiichi Ohno, which thoroughly shaves away waste to do the absolute best for you right in front of them.
Identical to the resolve of Choya Umeshu’s “If you don’t succeed with plum liqueur, give up on life,” Mimi Takamizawa has cut off his retreat and continues his desperate service to you.
Please, do not give up easily.
Before thinking, just try doing it.
Mimi Takamizawa faces his digital screen today as well, drawing those eyes while sending a standing ovation in his heart to welcome you warmly.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
— Henry Ford
“Mistakes made in youth are a wonderful investment for the future. What matters is what you learn from them.”
— Agatha Christie
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
— Moses (From the Old Testament, Exodus 20:2)
“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
— William Shakespeare
“Do not place your burden onto another’s shoulders. Each human being must bear the weight of their own life.”
— The Talmud
“Only after great suffering does true joy arrive. Human beings become beautiful for the first time by being wounded.”
— Osamu Dazai
“Let everyone laugh at my clumsiness. However, that laughter is the very best gasoline that moves me forward.”
— Osamu Dazai
“Even if the world is completely cold and ruthless, I will gladly become a clown to save you, and you alone, right in front of me.”
— Osamu Dazai
“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
— Winston Churchill
“Have the courage to be the first, to be different. I am thought to have achieved success overnight, but that night lasted thirty years. Thinking back, it was a long, long night.”
— Ray Kroc
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. We keep moving forward.”
— Walt Disney
“The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding. The moment one stops learning, they begin to grow old.”
— Leonardo da Vinci
