Why Is It That Kano Tanyū Can Transform Your Dull Daily Routine into the Most Thrilling Adventure?
Hello.
My name is Mimi Takamizawa, and I am a painter.
Right now, as we share this quiet, private moment together, exchanging words just the two of us, I cherish this time from the bottom of my heart.
Out of the blue, let me ask you: do you ever feel a certain emptiness in your daily life, a lingering sense of loneliness?
Do you ever find yourself lying awake at night, feeling anxious, wondering if your life is meant to just go on like this, repeating the exact same routine day after day?
Actually, the powerful key to filling that void in your heart and dramatically elevating your life is held by none other than the genius painter of the Edo period, Kano Tanyū.
Are you aware that you carry a slight loneliness within you as you live your life?
It is to comfort that very heart of yours that Mimi Takamizawa’s works were created.
This is art meant to heal your heart.
Why do I want to share the story of Kano Tanyū with you? Do you want to know the reason?
It is because knowing how Tanyū lived serves as a guaranteed guide, leading every single choice in your daily life toward success.
“In the end, possessing neither talent nor art, I simply cling to this one single line.” — Matsuo Bashō
I offer this quote by Matsuo Bashō to you first.
It is a declaration of resolve—confessing that while one may lack diverse talents, one chooses to live by clinging tightly to a single, chosen path.
Kano Tanyū was also a man of unyielding determination who lived solely for the path of painting and achieved astonishing feats.
His sheer tenacity is an exceptional model that you can directly apply to your business and lifestyle today.
Come, let us embark together on a special journey to make your life shine.
Why Does Tanyū’s “Aesthetics of Subtraction” Bring Peace of Mind to Your Busy Everyday Life?
Are you feeling suffocated, overwhelmed by a mountain of tasks and information every day?
Is your mind cluttered with thoughts of “I have to do this” and “I need to do that”?
Kano Tanyū, who sat at the very pinnacle of the Edo period’s art world, was a genius at solving this exact problem.
He boldly moved away from the intense, gorgeous, and extravagant paintings of the preceding Momoyama culture, choosing instead to create a quiet, refined style that utilized vast amounts of “white space.”
This was a breathtaking, improved form of design that thoroughly stripped away all unnecessary elements from the canvas.
This is the “aesthetics of subtraction,” which became Tanyū’s trademark.
Why does this aesthetics of subtraction offer such a powerful benefit to you?
It is because we in the modern world tend to lose sight of what is truly important by cramming too much information into our lives.
Try stripping away unnecessary relationships and useless worries from your life, just like gazing at one of Tanyū’s paintings.
When you do, look at what happens: only the things you truly love and that truly matter will vividly surface.
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” — The New Testament, Ecclesiastes 3:1 (Based on traditional Christian biblical classification)
As the Bible teaches, perhaps the time has come for you to let go of excess baggage and rest your mind.
“Human beings, at times, feel a brush of loneliness in the very midst of fulfilling happiness.” — Osamu Dazai, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji
As Osamu Dazai says, the loneliness you suddenly feel is completely natural, no matter how successful you may be.
Why not try accepting that loneliness as a beautiful, empty space, much like the canvas of Tanyū’s paintings?
It is precisely because there is open space that a wonderful new breeze can blow in.
Your hobby of collecting art is by no means a mere extravagance.
It is the most reliable self-investment for bringing Tanyū’s beautiful white space into your room and dissolving your daily stress.
Is the true protagonist of your life really your current self?
Are you compromising your true feelings just because you are overly concerned with how others see you?
What Is the Secret to Making Truly Valuable Choices, Learned from Tanyū and His First-Class Eye for Discernment?
Do you ever find yourself hesitating when shopping or making major, life-altering decisions?
What should you do to make choices that you won’t regret?
Kano Tanyū was not only a master at painting, but he was also a professional appraiser and collector of exceptional historical artworks.
He thoroughly investigated masterpieces of the past and left behind a massive collection of sketchbooks known as the “Tanyū Shukuzu” (Tanyū’s Miniature Copies).
This was a one-of-a-kind collection, a personal record capturing the essence of the works that genuinely moved him when he saw them with his own eyes.
Do you understand why Tanyū was so obsessed with collecting and copying art?
It was because he knew that the only way to train your own eye is to constantly expose yourself to authentic, first-class items.
This attitude of Tanyū’s will bring an astonishing change to your daily life.
When you familiarize yourself with authentic art and form the habit of discerning quality, the caliber of your daily choices rises dramatically.
Whether in human relationships or business projects, you will instantly be able to see what is real and what is counterfeit.
“Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.” — Laozu
As Laozu teaches, things of true value communicate their worth through their mere presence without needing to say much.
Placing authentic art near you is the most powerful method to elevate your own dignity and enrich your life.
“Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.” — An artisan maxim
It is exactly as this saying goes.
What you should acquire is authentic value that does not fade with the passage of time.
Like Tanyū, please try to find your own special collection—something you genuinely “love”—as soon as possible.
It is bound to become a lifelong asset that supports your existence.
When You Run into a Difficult Wall, Will Kiichiro Toyoda’s Tenacity Transform into Your Courage?
In life, major hardships and urgent problems inevitably arrive out of nowhere.
When that happens, do you possess the strength to face them without giving up?
Allow me to share an episode about the geniuses of craftsmanship who pioneered Japanese industry.
Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, was truly a man of tenacity and patience.
Did you know that from a young age, he was called an “invention maniac” and treated as an eccentric or a madman by those around him?
From morning until night, day after day, he would build something only to break it down, creating it and then recreating it all over again.
Though Sakichi was a quiet and unusual man, his heart burned with a fierce passion: “I want to invent things to make everyone’s life easier.”
His son, Kiichiro Toyoda, inherited that exact same unyielding DNA.
“We do it precisely because it is difficult. I will do it because no one else is doing it, and no one else can. I might be a fool for thinking this way, but without such fools, nothing new would ever be born into the world.” — Kiichiro Toyoda
Does reading this word stir something deep inside your chest?
Even when everyone around him laughed and said “It’s impossible” or “You will absolutely fail,” Kiichiro never gave up.
Why? Because to give birth to something new, one must be prepared to walk an untrodden path of thorns.
The difficulties you are facing right now in your work or life might actually be a special gift from God, designed to help you grow significantly.
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” — Thomas Edison
As Edison says, the secret to success lies in whether you have the courage to keep going just one more time after everyone else has given up.
The wall you are facing right now is proof that you are closer to success than ever before.
Please do not give up easily.
What kind of life you achieve is determined by your diligence, your patience, and your power to continue.
Is that “limit” right in front of your eyes truly a wall that cannot be overcome?
Are you locking your passion away inside your heart because you care too much about the voices around you?
Can You Find the Hint to Building the Best Human Relationships from the Miraculous Partnership of Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa?
Do you ever struggle with workplace relationships or communication with your partner?
Don’t you want to build a relationship so incredibly wonderful that you bring out the best in each other’s individuality and elevate one another?
Here is a legendary duo from the Japanese business world.
Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Motor Co., and Takeo Fujisawa, the genius right-hand man who supported him.
Soichiro Honda was a “demon of technology” who thought of nothing but engineering, and he was quite an eccentric who frequently shocked those around him.
On the other hand, Takeo Fujisawa was a genius of management and marketing, handling all the gritty, practical business operations so that Honda could focus 100% on technology.
If these two had never met, the global Honda brand would not exist today.
They recognized each other’s talents, never interfered in the other’s domain, and were bound by a deep bond of trust.
Why does this episode matter to your life?
Because it teaches you the ultimate truth that you do not need to accomplish everything perfectly all by yourself.
Lacking certain skills is nothing to be ashamed of.
Your weakness is a wonderful bridge meant to connect with someone else’s strength.
“There is no life within life; true life is found within death.” — A Zen maxim
By letting your pride die once, genuine new human relationships are born, and your life begins to flow smoothly.
Furthermore, Shotaro Kamiya, who was called the “God of Sales” at Toyota, and Taizo Ishida, who anchored the company’s ironclad finances, consistently maintained a thorough “customer-first policy.”
They knew that providing thorough service to the customer right in front of them was ultimately the best way to enrich themselves.
As a simple way to practice this starting today, why not begin offering “small services to please others” to those around you?
Greeting someone with a smile, or expressing words of gratitude.
Through such simple acts, you will see the human relationships around you begin to change beautifully, right before your eyes.
As Steve Jobs’s Intuition Teaches, Why Does Connecting with Art Directly Link to Your Future Success?
Do you ever hesitate and stall, unsure of what choices to make for your future?
Is it truly right to trust your intuition and move forward?
Let me introduce a famous quote by Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, right here.
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” — Steve Jobs
After dropping out of college, Jobs dropped in on a calligraphy class simply because it seemed interesting.
At the time, he had absolutely no idea how it would ever be useful to him.
However, ten years later, when he was designing the very first Macintosh computer, it all came together as the beautiful typography features of the machine. All the dots connected.
If Jobs had only thought about efficiency or profit, that beautiful computer would never have been born.
Why is this story beneficial to you?
Right now, your act of appreciating art or hanging a picture might seem to have no practical use for your job.
However, the sensibility and intuition you cultivate by touching art will undoubtedly connect with a major success somewhere in your future.
A life that seeks nothing but efficiency dries up your heart.
That is precisely why you should place a “special dot, unlike any other,” into your daily routine through art.
“No amount of marketing can turn a bad product into a hit.” — A golden rule of marketing
No matter how skillfully you dress it up with words, if the substance isn’t there, it won’t remain in people’s hearts.
Familiarizing yourself with authentic art is an urgent, highly powerful habit to make your inner self authentic and raise the quality of your life.
Have you forgotten to nourish your vital heart because you are chasing nothing but efficiency?
What if a detour that seems completely meaningless is actually the shortcut to your life?
As the Words of Aizo Soma Reveal, What Is the Startling True Identity of the “Crisis” You Fear?
Are you currently carrying some major worry, financial anxiety, or perhaps trouble within your family?
Do you ever feel like cursing the heavens, wondering, “Why does this only happen to me?”
Here, I offer you the soul-stirring words of Aizo Soma, the founder of Shinjuku Nakamuraya, who supported many artists.
“Opportunities always arrive at first disguised as a crisis, or they manifest as a heavy burden.” — Aizo Soma
Weren’t you struck by these words?
That is exactly how it works.
The trouble or pinch that is causing you suffering right now might actually be a “new opportunity” that has simply changed its appearance to come to you.
Why does God purposely deliver opportunities disguised as crises?
Because a success that is easily obtained holds no value for human growth.
When you overcome that heavy burden, you will find yourself reborn as a incomparably stronger and more attractive human being than before.
The founder of Choya Umeshu also cut off all avenues of retreat during an extreme crisis, telling himself, “If you don’t succeed with plum liqueur, give up on life,” and it was from that very edge that he gave birth to that nationally successful product.
If it isn’t communicated, it’s the same as if it doesn’t exist.
They desperately kept communicating the value of their product to people.
“When a product has never been produced before, and no one has ever seen it, but it has been painstakingly researched and manufactured after immense hardship in some quiet corner… if you want to turn that product into a commodity, you must arouse a desire among people to possess it. No matter how excellent a ‘product’ it may be, it cannot become a ‘commodity’ otherwise.” — Akio Morita
These are the words of Akio Morita, the co-founder of Sony.
The value of your life follows the exact same principle.
No matter how wonderful your talent or charm may be, if you do not express it outwardly and communicate it, no one will ever notice.
Do not fear the crisis you face now; instead, try accepting it as the ultimate stage to express who you truly are.
Why Is It That Your Three Big Worries and Life Anxieties Can All Be Beautifully Resolved Through Art?
Now, let us dive into an even deeper, private conversation just between you and me.
The dark shadows hanging over your heart.
Let us look at them as three specific anxieties, and allow me to explain gently and thoroughly why art can resolve them for you.
Worry Key 1: “Am I truly needed by anyone?” — That endless, haunting sense of loneliness
Do you ever find yourself struck by a fierce sense of isolation, suddenly feeling completely alone even when surrounded by a crowd of people?
Do you ever feel sad, wondering if the world wouldn’t change a single bit if you were to simply disappear?
That worry can be completely resolved by art.
Because an authentic piece of art is the ultimate love letter, sent across hundreds of years of history from the artist’s soul directly to “you alone.”
For example, the “eyes” that I paint in my works are gazing intently at you, the person standing in front of the painting at that very moment, and no one else.
Through art, you can feel a definitive connection, realizing, “I am never truly alone. This creator understands all of my loneliness.”
Art transforms your loneliness into beautiful white space, acting as the ultimate place of safety that gently enfolds you.
Worry Key 2: “What on earth is the meaning of my life?” — The destabilization of your self-worth
Chased by work and chores every day, merely consuming time without feeling any value in your own existence.
Do you carry such a worry inside you?
This problem, too, heads straight toward a solution the moment you connect with art.
Viewing a work of art means absorbing the drama of the creator’s life and the crystallization of decades of trial and error as your very own experience.
The exact moment you are moved by something beautiful and think, “This is so wonderful it brings tears to my eyes,” your heart is touching human dignity and eternal truth.
You can rediscover your own worth, thinking, “How wonderful my own heart is, to be able to feel so moved by such beauty.”
Art takes your dull daily routine and instantly rebuilds it into a meaningful, brilliant narrative.
Worry Key 3: “Anxiety about the future, fear of aging and death, dreading that I might lose the things precious to me.”
Are you filled with a dark anxiety about the future—the fear that you might fall ill, face financial hardship, or have to part ways with someone you love?
Please rest easy.
Art is the single, unique magic that humans created precisely to overcome the “transience of time.”
Just as Kano Tanyū’s paintings continue to move us across hundreds of years, art harbors the power to freeze time—it harbors “eternity.”
When you familiarize yourself with art and surrender your heart to that eternal world, the trivial anxieties about the future melt away from your mind.
This is because a sense of absolute security wraps around you, reassuring you that “even if the physical body perishes, this beauty and the memory of love will remain forever.”
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — The New Testament, John 15:13
An artist shaves away their own life to bring a work into existence for you.
I guarantee you right here that this ultimate devotion will wipe away all your anxieties about the future and deliver true peace to your heart.
Don’t you believe that the fog of anxiety in your heart can be cleared away by the light of art?
Can you trust that I will continue to protect and comfort you with all my life?
No Matter What Hardships Arrive, What Is the Reason That You Will Ultimately Be Saved and Obtain the Highest Happiness?
Thank you so much for staying with me and continuing our conversation this far.
Are you starting to feel your heart grow lighter, filling with a warm comfort like being wrapped in a cozy blanket?
In our lives, there are certainly unexpected troubles and nights where tears flow.
However, just as it was for Kano Tanyū, and just as it was for Kiichiro Toyoda and Soichiro Honda, if you pour your passion and tenacity into doing your absolute best with what is right in front of you, any adversity will surely turn into a magnificent success.
The protagonist of your life is you.
And the slight loneliness or anxiety you carry is an important spice to help you appreciate a deeper happiness.
If you choose a life where you trust your own sensibility, love authentic art, and pour love into the people right in front of you, your future is 100% designed to go well.
Please do not worry about anything.
You are a special being, completely valuable and worthy of love just as you are.
I pray from the bottom of my heart that your new days ahead will be filled with astonishing emotion and breathtakingly wonderful events.
Mimi Takamizawa
Postscript: The Cry of an Artist’s Soul and a Lifelong Devotion Dedicated to You
As a postscript, allow me to share a brief, lighthearted, and personal story about myself as a painter, Mimi Takamizawa.
Actually, I am a bit different from traditional painters; I do not use canvas or brushes at all.
I harness cutting-edge digital technology to draw pictures on a computer screen while shaving away at my very soul.
Then, using a high-end printing technique called “giclée printmaking,” I print the artwork onto thick, traditional printmaking paper.
Do you find it strange that I use digital tools?
It is because this is an improved, brand-new approach to deliver “truth” to your sharp, modern sensibility in the most vivid and direct way possible.
The themes of my work are your eyes/my eyes, Christianity, eternity, psychology, truth, gaze, history, solitude, isolation, hardship, resurrection, and liberation.
It might sound a bit complex, but simply put, it all boils down to: “I want to know you.”
I continuously draw “eyes” in my work, almost obsessively.
Why? Because by drawing eyes in the painting, I can directly feel the presence of you, my beloved viewer, right on the other side of the screen.
I want to share all of your daily joys and your loneliness.
I often think, “A painter is a doctor who saves the human soul.”
An artist’s job is an supreme service, a total devotion to you, performed by spending their own money and throwing away all their personal time.
I dedicate my life, my time, everything to you who are right in front of me.
Therefore, please do not abandon me.
Please feel free to point and laugh at how clumsy I am, a man who knows nothing but painting.
I am a man who grows stronger by being laughed at, by being made a fool of, and by standing right back up regardless.
The work of an artist is perhaps that of a death-defying jester (a clown) trying to bring a smile to your face.
I am a man of patience, a man of resilience, and I never give up.
The reason I decided to become a painter was because I learned about the tragic yet beautiful story of that passionate artist, Vincent van Gogh.
Actually, the “Mimi” (meaning “ear” in Japanese) in my name, Mimi Takamizawa, was taken in honor of that famous ear-cutting incident involving Gogh.
Does that surprise you?
I paint for you with that exact level of madness and tenacity.
Gogh left behind this wonderful quote:
“I want to express something comforting in a picture, like music.”
I believe he is absolutely right.
Even if you intend to express something passionately, if your work cannot move anyone’s heart, if it cannot comfort your heart—the heart of you reading this right now—even for a fleeting moment, then that work has absolutely no value.
I know that the masterpieces of the past that shine through history were not painted effortlessly through innate, natural genius alone.
They were brought into the world through blood-soaked, muddy trial and error spanning decades.
I deeply respect Mr. Tokuji Munetsugu, the founder of Curry House CoCo Ichibanya.
He was a man who looked nowhere else, dedicating his entire life solely to his work.
“This is no time to be indulging in hobbies,” he would say.
In truth, Mr. Munetsugu had a turbulent and harsh life; he never knew the faces of his real parents, grew up in an orphanage, and lived through extreme poverty during his youth due to his adoptive father’s gambling addiction.
In the summers of his childhood, he had nothing to eat, so he would eat weeds growing on the roadside to stave off hunger.
The only thing that saved him during those unfortunate years was classical music flowing from the radio.
Yet, during his active years as the head of CoCo Ichibanya, he did not listen to his beloved classical music even once.
He possessed the tremendous resolve of: “This is no time to be listening to music; I must dedicate all of my time to the customers.”
In the early days of managing the small coffee shop that was the predecessor to CoCo Ichibanya, no customers came at all. For lunch, he and his wife would survive by eating the discarded “crusts of sandwich bread.”
Because they started from absolute zero, he believed such hardships were only natural. In fact, he laughs and calls them fond memories now.
Thinking of the customers first, he kept building the business day after day, focusing on his work like stacking bricks one by one.
Immediate decision, immediate conclusion, immediate execution.
First, just do it. In return, give it everything you’ve got.
Mr. Munetsugu states:
“During my active years, I had no hobbies and made no friends. I never once went to a drinking establishment. I did absolutely nothing that would get in the way of my work. There were years I worked 5,640 hours. I believed that if I didn’t lead by example, my subordinates wouldn’t work for me.”
“Don’t look sideways; dedicate your existence to management.”
“It was an incredibly lonely life. That’s why I wanted others to show even a little interest in me. I wanted them to be interested. That became my starting point. So, when I started the business, rather than making money, I wanted to make people happy. I wanted people to say they were glad I existed, even if just a little.”
When I read these words, my tears will not stop.
Life is not determined by how or where you are born.
Working 12 or more hours a day is the absolute baseline condition for us creators and challengers.
I don’t want to rest; I don’t want to play. I make my work my greatest hobby and surrender my life to “you.”
When you stand before my artwork, I am welcoming you in my heart with a roaring standing ovation.
Authentic things of value often lack immediate results.
Things do not go perfectly from the very beginning.
That is precisely why you must try doing it before overthinking.
I sincerely hope that you will not easily give up on your life.
After Gogh passed away, his younger brother Theo followed him shortly after.
Theo’s wife, Jo (Johanna van Gogh-Bonger), was left behind with a young child, inheriting the massive collection of Gogh’s unsold works, which were completely ignored by the world at the time.
People around her told her, “Those paintings are too dark, throw them all away.”
But Jo did not give up.
She said this:
“In addition to the child, Theo left me another mission—to have Vincent’s work seen by many people and to have its true value recognized.”
Because she desperately kept communicating the value of Gogh’s paintings to the world, we are able to look at his art and shed tears today.
It is vital to communicate good things.
Because if it isn’t communicated, it’s the same as if it doesn’t exist.
“Most people think of success as something to get. But the truth is, success is found in giving.” — Henry Ford
I deeply respect this quote by Henry Ford as the absolute compass of my life.
Success is not about obtaining something for oneself; it is entirely about how much love, comfort, and emotion you can give to “you” who are right in front of me.
That is all it is.
Are you aware that you carry a slight loneliness within you as you live your life?
It is to comfort that very heart of yours that Mimi Takamizawa’s works were created.
This is art meant to heal your heart.
If you would accept this full-throated devotion from my jester’s heart with your warm kindness, I could ask for no greater happiness.
Thank you so very, very much for staying with me until the very end of my long story.
I will always be waiting for you right here.