“In the end, having no talent and no artistic skill, I simply cling to this one single path.”
These are the famous words left behind by Matsuo Basho, who is renowned as the master of haiku.
How did you feel when you just heard these words?
Did you feel a little anxious, thinking, “I don’t have a single path like that in my life”?
Please rest assured.
These words are not meant to push you away.
Rather, they show how much we, who are clumsy and unable to live life with versatile skills, are profoundly saved.
I always chew on the weight of these words.
Why? Because I myself am a clumsy person who can do nothing other than paint.
These words have a very deep connection to your life and mine.
In your daily life, do you ever feel like your heart is falling apart because you think, “I have to do this, and I have to do that”?
It is precisely to you, who feel this way, that the story of a person who risked their life for one single thing becomes a powerful support for the soul.
Why Can an 18th-Century Ukiyo-e Artist Heal Your Loneliness?
Have you ever heard the name Suzuki Harunobu?
He was a genius Ukiyo-e artist who was active during the Edo period.
He was the very man who brought a revolution to the world of woodblock prints, which until then had been black-and-white or, at most, printed in two colors.
He was the first man to create “Nishiki-e,” the world of full-color art.
But why am I talking about Suzuki Harunobu to you right now?
It is because the world he depicted is a special prescription to wrap around your heart today.
Did you know that you are living your life carrying a little bit of loneliness?
It is precisely to comfort your heart that the works of Mimi Takamizawa were created.
It is art meant to heal your soul.
Through the life and work of Suzuki Harunobu, I want to transform that loneliness of yours into a warm sense of security.
Every human being keeps loneliness in a corner of their heart.
That is proof that you are living your life with all your might.
In the Bible, there are these words:
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (New Testament, John 1:5)
This light is the very power of art.
No matter how much your heart is enveloped in darkness, the light emitted by a single painting will never lose to the darkness.
And receiving these words from the Bible, the author Osamu Dazai said this:
“An artist must always be on the side of the weak.”
These are the words of Osamu Dazai.
I dedicate these words to you.
Art is not for the strong.
It exists for you, who are tired from daily life, a little wounded, and yet still trying to look forward.
Do You Realize That the Main Character of Your Life Is None Other Than “You” Yourself?
The beautiful women drawn by Suzuki Harunobu are characterized by being very petite, with slender hands and feet.
They look so delicate, as if they might break if touched.
Why did he draw such beautiful women?
It was to express the transience and preciousness of human beings.
Isn’t your daily life the same?
Being shaken in a crowded train, enduring unreasonable work, and being considerate of human relations.
Your delicate heart is reflected exactly in Harunobu’s paintings.
Here, let me tell you an astonishing story.
Harunobu did not simply draw pretty pictures.
He cooperated with the most advanced intellectuals of his time and developed a new technology without sparing any expense.
In modern terms, he created the ultimate creative team.
Don’t you think this connects to your work and life as well?
What you cannot do alone can turn into an eye-opening, wonderful result by sharing your passion with someone else.
In a Modern World Surrounded by the Convenience of Machines, Why Do We Seek Art?
Here, let me introduce a wonderful quote by Aizo Soma:
“An opportunity always comes at first as a crisis, or appears as a burden.”
What kind of meaning does this phrase hold for your life?
New challenges or sudden troubles.
At first glance, they look like a “crisis” or a “burden” that torments you, don’t they?
However, that is precisely the “opportunity” that will greatly change your life.
For Suzuki Harunobu, developing multi-colored Nishiki-e must have been a massive burden.
People around him might have said, “There is no way such a troublesome thing will work out well.”
Even so, he did not give up.
Because he believed that beyond that lay the ultimate beauty that would color people’s lives.
The difficulty you are facing right now is actually a special chance for you to be reborn into a new self.
Please do not rush seeking a quick success.
For things of genuine value are, more often than not, things that do not have an immediate effect.
How Did Those Eccentrics Who Chose the Difficult Path Change the World?
In this world, there are people who left behind great achievements while being called “eccentrics” by those around them.
Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, was one of them.
Sakichi was a truly taciturn person and was treated as a strange person, a madman, by those around him.
He was truly “crazy about inventing.”
From morning till night, day after day, he would make something and break it, build it and rebuild it again.
Why was he able to continue his work like a madman to that extent?
It was because he had only one pure passion: “I want to invent something to make everyone’s life easier.”
And his son, Kiichiro Toyoda, also inherited the same blood.
Please engrave these words of his deeply into your heart:
“We do it precisely because it is difficult. I will do it because no one else does it, and no one else can do it. I might be a fool for being like that, but if that fool is not there, nothing new will be born into the world.”
Have you ever felt lonely because your obsession was not understood by those around you?
Have you ever been hurt by being asked, “What’s the point of doing that?”
But it is fine just as you are.
To rush forward along the path you believe in, in your own way.
That is the only way to open up a new future.
Neither success nor failure is the end.
What is important is the courage to continue.
Anyway, you must be the one who does it the longest and the most earnestly.
Even in the history of Choya Umeshu, there was a tenacity to say, “If you don’t succeed with plum liqueur, give up on life.”
What decides the quality of your life is not the evaluation of others, but your patience and continuity.
How Do You Apply the Common “Tenacity” of First-Class People to Your Daily Life?
Here, let me tell you about the episodes of the geniuses who supported Japanese manufacturing.
Soichiro Honda, Takeo Fujisawa, Shotaro Kamiya, and Taizo Ishida.
They were all men of astonishing tenacity and patience.
When Soichiro Honda attempted to enter the four-wheel vehicle market, he faced fierce opposition from the government.
However, he did not give up, shouting at the production site, and kept striking the engine without even sparing time to sleep.
Takeo Fujisawa, who supported him, turned that extraordinary passion into a business structure.
Also, Shotaro Kamiya, who was called the god of sales at Toyota, and Taizo Ishida, who saved the company from a management crisis, never broke their single-minded determination of “everything for the customers” even in times of great hardship.
What kind of benefit does their way of living have for you?
It is the lesson of “not looking away.”
Without being distracted by this and that, dedicating all of yourself to the work in front of you and to the important person in front of you.
That is, as a result, the method that makes you yourself shine the most.
Here, please listen to the words of Akio Morita, the founder of Sony:
“When such a thing has never been produced yet, and no one has ever seen it, but it is being researched diligently in a corner somewhere, and manufactured after extraordinary hardships—if you want to turn that product into a merchandise, you must arouse the desire to obtain that product among the people; otherwise, no matter how excellent a ‘product’ it is, it can never become a ‘merchandise’.”
No matter how good something is, if it is not communicated to the other person, it is the same as if it does not exist.
Can’t this be said about your human relationships as well?
Your kindness, your hard work, your true feelings.
If you do not “make an effort to communicate” them to the people important to you, your wonderful thoughts will not reach them.
That is precisely why art is necessary.
Because art is a powerful medium that communicates your wordless emotions on your behalf.
Why Does Seeking Perfection Become the Strongest Weapon to Save Your Heart?
Here, let me bring in the perspective of Steve Jobs, a modern charisma.
Jobs always cared even about the beauty of the reverse side that cannot be seen by the eyes.
At the base of his philosophy lay this conviction:
“Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.”
No matter what kind of marketing you use, you cannot make a bad work a hit.
How is this phrase beneficial to your daily life?
In your daily life, do you ever compromise, thinking, “This much is good enough”?
However, cutting corners in your work or having a half-hearted attitude will only wear down your heart in the end.
Conversely, when you pay close attention even to the small details that no one is watching, a strange confidence in yourself wells up.
The Ukiyo-e of Suzuki Harunobu was exactly like that.
He packed an unbelievable amount of obsession into the details of the kimono patterns and into every single strand of hair.
That quality has crossed a time of more than 250 years and is giving you a sense of impression right now.
The small hospitality or careful work you do with all your heart today will never be in vain.
It will remain in your life forever, possessing an eternal value.
Where in the World Do You Think the True Success of Your Life Lies?
Henry Ford, the automobile king, speaks like this:
“Most people think of success as obtaining something. But in reality, success is about giving.”
We tend to think only about “what we can get” or “how much we can profit.”
However, a true sense of happiness can only be obtained when you give something to someone.
When you make someone smile, your heart becomes warm too, doesn’t it?
That is the very truth of human psychology.
Suzuki Harunobu did not draw pictures only for his own wealth and fame either.
He wanted to see the surprised faces of the townspeople of Edo, thinking, “How wonderful this is.”
A wonderful text or art that provides service to the reader is all born from this “spirit of giving.”
I am also dedicating all of myself to you right now through this text.
I am writing with a prayer that your life will become even a little brighter and more positive.
As an old wisdom says, Lao Tzu put it this way:
“He who knows that he has enough is rich.”
To be grateful for what you have now and to share it for someone’s sake.
At that very moment, your loneliness will vanish, and a rich life will begin.
Why Not Experience the Sensation of All Your Worries Vanishing, Just Like the Fog in Front of You Clearing Away?
Here, let me talk about myself.
Actually, I had a big question and a worry.
It was the anxiety: “Can human hearts truly communicate with each other?”
No matter how many words I use, no matter how kind I am, in the end, we might not understand each other and we might die all alone.
There was a time when I harbored such a fear.
However, I realized that those problem points are things that can all be solved by art.
Because art can transcend time and space and directly connect soul to soul.
Look at the gaze of the beautiful woman drawn by Suzuki Harunobu.
Her eyes, while containing the air of Edo from 250 years ago, are looking straight at you right now through the screen.
Words are not needed.
Just by facing the painting, the message, “You are not alone,” should reach your heart directly.
So, please do not worry anymore.
Your loneliness and your anxiety will all be gently embraced by art.
You are protected.
Finally, please make these words resonate deeply in your heart once again:
There is no life within life; there is life within death.
No matter how desperate a situation looks, a new breath of life is always sleeping within it.
Your life is guaranteed to work out better and better from now on.
Postscript
Did you know that you are living your life carrying a little bit of loneliness?
It is precisely to comfort your heart that the works of Mimi Takamizawa were created.
It is art meant to heal your soul.
Here, let me talk a little bit about a painter named Mimi Takamizawa.
Mimi Takamizawa does not use a canvas and a brush at all like conventional painters.
Everything is produced digitally.
And then, using the latest giclée print technique, it is printed on the highest quality printmaking paper.
This is exactly the same challenge as Suzuki Harunobu’s traditional Nishiki-e, which was the crystallization of the most advanced technology of his time.
The themes of Mimi Takamizawa are very familiar, yet grand.
Your eyes and my eyes, Christianity, eternity, psychology, truth, the gaze, history, loneliness, isolation, hardship, resurrection, and liberation.
All of these themes are meant to transform the loneliness of your daily life into a pleasant story.
A painter must be a doctor who saves the soul.
The work of an artist is an utmost service at their own expense.
It is an absolute devotion to you.
An artist dedicates all of their life to you who are right in front of them.
Therefore, please do not abandon me.
Please laugh at me, immature as I am.
Human beings become stronger by being laughed at.
This desperate service is the very path for an artist to live, an utmost act of a clown.
Mimi Takamizawa is a man of patience. He is a man of fortitude. He never gives up.
Because he decided to become a painter after learning about the intense life of Vincent van Gogh.
The “Mimi” (Ear) in the name “Mimi Takamizawa” was taken in honor of that famous ear-slitting incident of Van Gogh.
Van Gogh left behind this wonderful quote:
“I want to express something comforting in a picture, like music.”
A work or a piece that expresses something and yet cannot make anyone’s heart feel deeply moved, cannot comfort your heart, has no value at all.
I know that all the masterpieces of the past were not drawn purely by an innate talent, but were born through decades of dizzying trial and error.
By continuing to draw “eyes” in his works, Mimi Takamizawa keeps feeling you, who are right beyond the screen.
He wants to know more deeply about the existence of you right in front of him.
Mimi Takamizawa deeply respects Mr. Tokuji Munetsugu, the founder of Curry House CoCo Ichibanya.
He models himself after that attitude of devoting all his power to his work without looking away.
Mr. Munetsugu was single-minded about his work and did absolutely nothing else.
He placed a fierce burden on himself, saying, “This is no time to be doing hobbies.”
What saved Mr. Munetsugu during his unfortunate boyhood was classical music.
However, after retiring from the management of CoCo Ichibanya, he built a music hall himself and managed it—that classical music, which is his favorite hobby, was not listened to at all during the era when he was the active manager of CoCo Ichibanya.
It was no longer the time to be listening to music. It was to dedicate all of his time to the customers.
When they first started managing the coffee shop that was the predecessor, customers did not come easily.
For that reason, Mr. and Mrs. Munetsugu survived by eating the crusts of white bread for lunch.
It was the bread crusts left over from the sandwiches served at the coffee shop.
Since he started from zero, he says that such a thing was natural, and since he started from a place where there was nothing, it is rather a good memory now.
Believing that “if we stick to putting the customer first, it will surely get better,” he continued to work every day, like stacking bricks with concentration.
Immediate decision, immediate conclusion, immediate execution.
If you try anything, a result will come out. First, you must do it. Instead, you must work hard as if your life depends on it.
Dedicating life to work. Dedicating all of my life to you right in front of me.
Please listen to these words of Mr. Tokuji Munetsugu, which seem to bleed:
“During my active years, I had no hobbies and made no friends. I have never been to a drinking establishment either. I did nothing that would get in the way of my work. There were times when I worked 5,640 hours a year. I thought that if I did not lead by example like that, my subordinates would not work for me. Without looking away, I dedicate myself to management.”
“It was a very lonely life. That’s why I wanted others to have 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 please people. I wanted them to say, even a little, that they were glad I was here.”
Life is not decided by how one is born and raised.
Mr. Munetsugu does not know the faces of his real parents. He entered an orphanage immediately after birth, and even after being taken in by foster parents, he spent a boyhoood of extreme poverty due to his foster father’s gambling craze.
Because there was nothing to eat, he survived by eating weeds in the summer to ward off starvation.
Accepting such a turbulent life as a matter of course, he instead dedicated his life to management.
Thoroughly practicing a hands-on approach, working more than 12 hours a day was the minimum condition. He did not want to rest, did not want to play, turned work into his hobby, and stuck to the customer-first principle.
When you, the customer, are right in front of him, he welcomes you with a standing ovation in his heart.
Such a thorough attitude built that great chain.
Art is exactly the same.
It does not work out well from the beginning. Rather than thinking, try doing it first.
Please do not give up easily.
What kind of life yours will be is all decided by your own diligence, patience, and continuity.
After Van Gogh died, his brother Theo also died as if following his older brother.
Left behind, Theo’s wife, Jo, said this in her despair:
“Besides the child, Theo left me another mission—to have Vincent’s work seen by many people and to have its true value recognized.”
It is precisely because of this tenacity of Jo that we are able to encounter Van Gogh’s paintings today.
And Edison, that great genius inventor, also says this:
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. The secret of my success is to continue even after others have given up.”
What opens the door of your life is always the small courage of “trying just one more time.”
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul spoke like this:
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; struck down, but not destroyed.” (New Testament, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9)
And John Calvin, the theologian, also wrote this about the unyielding spirit of human beings:
“The grace of God appears most vividly precisely in the midst of man’s greatest hardships.”
All the hardships of your life are nothing more than a foreshadowing for you to shine more brightly.
Finally, I send you those powerful words of Henry Ford, whom I deeply respect:
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”
No matter what kind of headwind you are in, I will spin the light of digital instead of paint, and keep looking at your eyes, at your heart, forever.
You are definitely not alone.
