Japan art and Shinto: Mountains in blue, Buddhism, and Kami

Japan art and Shinto: Mountains in blue, Buddhism, and Kami

Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The artist Sawako Utsumi hails from northern Japan. In her art, you often have religious dimensions – some obvious and others with hints concerning numerology and fusing this with religion. Therefore, in this art article, the emphasis is on the Shinto dimensions in each art piece and Buddhism.

The Shinto faith isn’t visualized in one of the art pieces. However, blue mountains and Shintoism are part of each article – with Buddhism also represented along with Shintoism in one art piece. Hence, the adorable landscapes – two that highlight the Shinto faith and one that doesn’t visually – all show the same path. Therefore, with the Shinto faith being fully interwoven in the mystery of nature, the unseen is part of the kami world that abounds in all three art pieces.

Kami is a complex word. The BBC reports, “So the word is used to refer to both the essence of existence or beingness which is found in everything, and to particular things which display the essence of existence in an awe-inspiring way… But while everything contains kami, only those things which show their kami-nature in a particularly striking way are referred to as kami.”

Nichiren – a holy Buddhist teacher and revered in Japan and internationally – said, “Worthy persons deserve to be called so because they are not carried away by the eight winds: prosperity, decline, disgrace, honor, praise, censure, suffering, and pleasure. They are neither elated by prosperity nor grieved by decline. The heavenly gods will surely protect one who is unbending before the eight winds.”

Overall, the faiths and philosophies of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism have impacted greatly on Japan. The impact of all four had golden periods because nothing remains static. However, it is Buddhism and Shintoism that remain firmly embedded throughout Japan. This concerns temples and shrines that dot the landscape – despite the growing reality of secularism.

Hence, the angle of nature in Shintoism fits in naturally with the adorable landscapes – and ideas – of this contemporary Japanese artist who equally focuses on the influence of Buddhism.

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/sawako-utsumi.html – Sawako Utsumi and where you can buy her art, postcards, bags, and other products. Also, individuals can contact her for individual requests.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/art-of-buddhism-and-shintoism-and-two-paths-in-the-snow-sawako-utsumi.html Art of Buddhism and Shintoism and Two Paths in the Snow

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/buddhist-cleric-nichiren-and-bleak-winter-in-exile-sawako-utsumi.html Buddhist Cleric Nichiren and Bleak Winter in Exile