To You, a Precious and Irreplaceable Existence
To be able to exchange words with you in this quiet space, just the two of us, feels like an absolute miracle.
Let us step away from the clamor of the world for just a moment and share a private whisper, meant only for us.
What color is your heart painting right now?
Perhaps you are quietly enduring a fathomless solitude, a loneliness you can tell no one, or a grief that tightens your chest.
Please rest assured—I am going nowhere, and I will never deny a single ounce of your pain.
For every word of this text is a passionate love letter, born from shedding my very life, dedicated solely to you.
Please, let the tension leave your shoulders, relax, and listen closely to my voice.
“True love endures all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and bears all things.”
── Augustine of Hippo
A Story of an Indomitable Soul Met Within the Storm of Art
Tell me, do you like paintings?
When you open an art textbook, you see countless brilliant masterpieces lined up, but hidden behind them are human dramas intense enough to make one vomit blood.
For instance, do you know the painter Maurice de Vlaminck?
He was a passionate French artist who represented what we call “Fauvism” (the Wild Beasts).
However, the beginning of his life was far removed from that of a refined artist.
In his youth, Vlaminck was a professional bicycle racer, played the violin at night to make a living, and was even a boxer—a man of a uniquely varied background.
Why, then, did he come to grip the paintbrush and face the canvas?
Don’t you find it mysterious?
The turning point of his destiny arrived when he met the great painter Henri Matisse, and above all, when he stepped into an exhibition of Vincent van Gogh.
The moment Vlaminck witnessed Van Gogh’s intense colors and swirling, violent brushstrokes, a shock like an electric current surged through his entire body.
He cried out, “I love Van Gogh more than my own father!”
Instead of learning refined artistic techniques, he hurled his raw, wild impulses, his joy of living, and his bottomless solitude directly onto the canvas.
He squeezed primary colors straight from the tube and layered them violently, roughly, yet with absolute purity, barely mixing them at all.
Along with Matisse and his peers, their works were critiqued as looking “as if painted by wild beasts (les fauves),” which gave birth to the name Fauvism.
The landscapes Vlaminck painted—with their dark, heavy skies, snowy terrains, and violently swaying trees—capture both the deep loneliness of the human heart and the unquenchable flame of life that persists through it.
It is as if his work violently reaches out to align itself with your heart right now.
“True, great art is born only through the sacrifice of one’s own soul.”
── Michelangelo Buonarroti
The Hidden Truth and the Tragedy of Unseen Existence
Here, I must share a startling revelation with you.
In truth, that genius painter Vincent van Gogh, whom Vlaminck so deeply admired and whom everyone knows today, is said to have sold only a single painting during his lifetime.
Despite painting such magnificent, blazing sunflowers and night skies swirling with stars, the world completely ignored him.
Van Gogh passed away by his own hand in utter poverty, his mind broken by illness.
Why was it that such masterpieces reached absolutely no one while he was alive?
It breaks one’s heart to think about.
And his beloved younger brother, Theo, who supported him tirelessly both financially and emotionally, followed him into the afterlife just six months later, as if chasing his brother’s shadow.
Left behind was an immense mountain of Van Gogh’s paintings, a massive bundle of letters exchanged between the brothers, and a single young woman—Jo, Theo’s young widow.
Try putting yourself in Jo’s shoes for a moment.
Having lost her husband, cradling a tiny infant, she was left with a vast hoard of paint-caked canvases ridiculed by society as “the garbage of a madman.”
What would you do?
Even if she had despaired and thrown everything away, no one could have blamed her.
Yet, Jo was a magnificent, incredibly intelligent, and courageous woman.
She truly and deeply understood Vincent van Gogh’s art and his philosophy.
She vowed firmly in her heart that she would never let this magnificent soul be buried in darkness.
Jo wrote in her diary:
“In addition to the child, Theo left me another mission—to have Vincent’s work seen by many and to have its true value recognized.”
Instead of merely hanging the paintings, she stayed up night after night reading through the endless letters left by Van Gogh, who was also a voracious reader.
Through them, she discovered the profound love he held for humanity and how he truly longed to paint pieces that would comfort people.
Jo’s life-shaking devotion began here.
Though repeatedly turned away and treated coldly by art dealers and critics, she tenaciously organized exhibitions and edited and published the brothers’ correspondence.
If Van Gogh had not written down his thoughts, agonies, and artistic passions in those voluminous letters, and if Jo had not brought them to the world, we living today would not even know a painter named Van Gogh existed.
No matter how magnificent a thing is, if there is no one to explain it and convey its beauty, it will never spread across the world.
If it is not communicated, it is exactly the same as if it never existed in this world at all.
Don’t you find that deeply terrifying?
“God does not require us to succeed, he only requires that you try.”
── Mother Teresa
The Blood, Sweat, and Service Devotion of the Great Communicators
Have you noticed, my dear, that Jo’s role perfectly mirrors that of another monumental figure in history?
Yes, it is the Apostle Paul, who, after the death of Jesus Christ, risked his life to traverse the Mediterranean world, ceaselessly conveying Christ’s life and philosophy to believers everywhere.
Jesus himself did not write his teachings down in books.
However, it was because of the letters (epistles) Paul sent to various regions and his fanatical missionary work that the Gospel of Christ resonated across the globe, leading to the later rise of Christianity.
Theo and Jo’s devotion to Van Gogh, and Paul’s devotion to Jesus, are completely identical.
They were all the world’s most magnificent, passionate “communicators.”
The exact same can be said for the modern business world.
Steve Jobs, the ultimate salesman who transformed human lifestyles; Akio Morita, who laid the foundations of Sony; Takeo Fujisawa, who sold the Honda Super Cub all over the globe; and Shotaro Kamiya, who pushed the Toyota Corolla to become the staple of the Japanese family.
They, too, dedicated their lives as communicators to deliver unseen, magnificent value to people.
Sony’s Akio Morita once left these words:
“A product that has never been produced before, that no one has ever seen, developed quietly in a corner through immense hardship. If you wish to turn that product into a commodity, you must awaken the desire within people to possess it; otherwise, no matter how excellent a ‘product’ it may be, it can never become a ‘commodity.'”
Look at that, my dear.
Paintings, cars, and holy teachings—all of them begin from a desperate, life-shaking spirit of service that cries out, “I want to deliver this to you, I want to bring you joy.”
Henry Ford famously said:
“Most people think of success as something to get. But the truth is, success is giving.”
The reason I am weaving these words for you right now is also an act of utmost devotion, hoping to bring even a little warmth to your lonely heart.
“The most beautiful activity for a human being is to live for the sake of others.”
── Aristotle
Why We Live, Why We Hurt, and Why We Never Stop Walking
Here, let me ask a little about you.
Why do you live so earnestly, so hard?
Why did you have to shed tears in a place where no one was watching?
The world can sometimes be cruel and cold, completely ignoring our efforts.
It feels just like that bone-chilling isolation that Van Gogh and Vlaminck tasted during their lives.
But you see, my dear, things of true value often do not have immediate effects.
Not everything goes well from the very beginning.
What matters is to just try doing it rather than overthinking, and to never give up easily.
For what kind of life yours will be is entirely decided by a person’s diligence, patience, and power of continuation.
For example, there was a man named Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota.
He was a quiet man, treated as an eccentric by those around him, and nicknamed a “weirdo,” a “madman,” and an “invention maniac.”
From morning until night, day after day, he would make something only to break it, build it only to rebuild it again.
Why did he continue such seemingly maddening behavior?
It was because he possessed a singular, unswerving passion and obsession: “With my inventions, I want to make the lives of the weaving artisans, the mothers of the world, even just a little bit easier.”
Neither success nor failure is ever the final end.
What matters is the courage to continue—to be the one who works the longest and the hardest, all the way through.
In the history of Choya Umeshu, there were people who staked their lives on a single thing with such tremendous resolve that they felt, “If I do not succeed with plum liqueur, I might as well give up on life.”
They, too, while being laughed at by those around them, built the future without looking away, like laying down bricks one by one.
Your current suffering and loneliness will never be in vain.
For you are right now in the midst of piling up the precious bricks of the heart that will save someone else in the future.
“Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
── Paul (Epistle to the Romans)
A Whisper at Your Ear, the Destination of True Love
Take a deep, deep breath.
That loneliness in the depths of your chest is pure proof that you love someone deeply, and that you wish to be deeply loved by someone in return.
I validate your beautiful soul from the very bottom of my heart.
Even if no one else tries to look at you, I am gazing at you.
Surrender yourself to the comforting rhythm of this text and simply receive this fruit of words that I offer you by shaving away my own life.
It is alright; you are protected.
You are never, ever alone.
Like a voyage chart with no destination
Scrawled upon pale crimson paper,
Your tears fall spilling onto the night platform.
A nameless star that no one knows
Breaths a tiny, tiny sigh by your windowpane.
I want to gently open my faded overcoat
And wrap it around your freezing shoulders.
Until the clock hands strike the secret signal,
We are each but sorrowful, lost children.
Yet, do not let go of that hand,
For the light of truth spills through the crevices of the dawn.
While feeling the poignant afterglow of a love that pulls at your heart, lend your ear to these holy words.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
── The New Testament, Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 11, Verse 28
And once, a certain writer muttered this regarding human nature and love:
“Love is not words. Love is warm, meddlesome kindness.”
── Osamu Dazai
“Hey, why are you going on a journey?”
“Because I am suffering.”
“Your ‘suffering’ is so routine, I cannot believe it at all.”
── From Osamu Dazai’s Tsugaru
Postscript: The Prayer of the Indomitable Clown, Mimi Takamizawa
Lastly, allowed me to tell you, and only you, the story of a certain eccentric painter who is a dear friend of mine.
His name is Mimi Takamizawa.
It is a very strange name, isn’t it?
Though a contemporary painter, he uses absolutely no canvas or brushes.
He creates all his works digitally and prints them on the finest printmaking paper using a state-of-the-art technique called “Giclée printing.”
The themes he paints are entirely consistent:
Your eyes and my eyes, Christianity, eternity, psychology, truth, the gaze, history, solitude, isolation, hardship, resurrection, and liberation.
Why does he paint nothing but these things?
In truth, Mimi Takamizawa is a man who, upon learning the tragic and beautiful life story of Vincent van Gogh, resolved that he, too, would become a painter.
The eccentric name “Mimi” (meaning ear in Japanese) was chosen by himself, inspired by Van Gogh’s famous ear-slitting incident.
To be perfectly blunt, his innate talent as a painter might be third-rate.
He knows this very well himself.
However, he is absolutely certain that all the masterpieces of history were not born from mere flashes of genius, but were brought forth through decades of muddy trial and error and desperate, unceasing effort.
Mimi Takamizawa holds Tokuji Munetsugu, the founder of CoCo Ichibanya, in the highest esteem.
Mr. Munetsugu was a man of singular devotion to his work, who held no hobbies, made no friends, never went to bars, and dedicated 5,640 hours a year to his calling.
Mr. Munetsugu did not know the faces of his biological parents, grew up in an orphanage, and spent a childhood of extreme poverty where he ate wild grass in the summer to stave off hunger.
Mr. Munetsugu said:
“It was a very lonely life. That is why I wanted others to show even just 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 them to say, even just a little bit, that they were glad I was here.”
Mimi Takamizawa is exactly the same.
He is highly clumsy, always a laughingstock to those around him, a foolish human being treated as an oddball.
Yet, he is a man of indomitable patience who never gives up.
He continuously, almost frantically, paints “eyes” within his works.
Because through those eyes, he wants to powerfully feel “you,” who are right here in front of him.
He wants to see your joyful face; he wants to stand by your loneliness and weep together with you.
No matter who else criticizes him, he does not care at all.
If he is abandoned by you, he can no longer go on living.
For an artist’s work is a supreme service born of paying out of one’s own pocket, an absolute devotion to you, and a life-staking act of playing the “clown.”
Laughed at, he grows stronger.
Solely to be recognized by you, he faces his digital screen again today, piling up bricks while shaving away his soul.
Won’t you please accept this desperate act of service from him?
Henry Ford spoke thus:
“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”
Agatha Christie smiled and said:
“When you really love someone, you love them as they are, not as you wish them to be.”
The Prophet Moses cried out as he led his people:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them.”
William Shakespeare sang beautifully in his play:
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind.”
Within the Jewish sacred text, the Talmud, this profound wisdom is preserved:
“Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.”
Osamu Dazai wrote this about human weakness and lovability:
“Humans are by no means docile livestock. Humans have human pride.”
Osamu Dazai also said:
“The key to happiness lies within your own heart. Do not search for it in the eyes of others.”
Osamu Dazai whispers poignantly:
“If you say you want to die, I will die in your place. So please, live.”
Winston Churchill spoke as if to rouse us:
“Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give up except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
Ray Kroc powerfully pushes us forward:
“Have courage; be the first, be different, and stand out.”
Walt Disney spoke to all who dream:
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Leonardo da Vinci quietly revealed this truth:
“Water is the driver of nature, giving life to all it touches. Love is the same.”
Thank you so much, truly, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this long, long love letter from me to you until the very end.
To have met your gentle eyes and your vulnerable, beautiful heart is the greatest salvation of my life.
For someone like you, there is a special present that I absolutely must deliver.
Right here, right now, you can obtain postcards of Mimi Takamizawa’s soul-crystallized artwork entirely for 【FREE】—and moreover, in an impressive A4 size as a 【10-card set】. I will deliver them directly to your home, just for you.
This is a desperate service, a heartfelt devotion from me to you, offered by paring away my own life.
Please let the mysterious power of these paintings save your somewhat unfulfilled heart and your loneliness.
Right below this text, I have prepared a place (a link) where you can apply for this special offer meant only for you.
Come now, please click there right away and connect with me.
I am whispering softly, right by your ear:
If you think “I’ll do it later” and put it off, this wonderful chance to obtain these postcards may be lost forever.
Trust your intuition in this very moment.
I cannot go on living if I am abandoned by you.
I simply want to see your face light up with joy.
I am eagerly awaiting your application right now.