To the end again, and to the beginning again.
We are born, grow, continue life, and eventually die. This process is the same for animals and plants, and the life that dies and returns to the earth nurtures new life.
Other examples of "repetition" surround us: the cycle of day and night, the changing of the seasons, the rotation of the Earth and the movement of celestial bodies...
The Other Shore and This Shore
As I have repeatedly depicted wolves throughout my creative work since 2013, I have become interested in nature and wolf worship, and my interest has expanded to include Shinto, Buddhism, nature worship, and customs from all over Japan.
I grew up in a residential area of Sapporo, and live a life far removed from nature and faith, but I wonder if the sense of awe and faith that ancient people had for nature and animals has somehow been passed down to us living in the modern age.
Or, even if this is not the case, perhaps we are still unconsciously weaving our own beliefs.
"The Other Shore and This Shore" focuses on the view of life and death, among the beliefs and culture that have been passed down in Japan since ancient times.
I believe that pursuing the question of "where do we go after death" leads to remembering "where we came from."
On this page, you can experience "Incarnation," a solo exhibition featuring works that explore the Japanese view of life and death.
In his 2025 solo exhibition "Incarnation," he created two worlds: "The World of the Living" and "The World of the Dead."
The masterpiece "Seizan" is inspired by mountain worship and ascetic practices, depicting scenes inspired by simulated experiences of death in the afterlife on a mountain.
At the time of the vernal or autumnal equinox, the sun rises from the zero point without tilting to the south or north.
Washed by the sunlight at the mountaintop, the wolves shed all the beliefs they had carried with them throughout their lives. Then, reborn, they return to the foot of the mountain.
Mountain worship has been alive in Japan since ancient times.
There, it has been believed that the ancestral spirits return to the mountains.
Some mountains are also believed to be places where gods descend.
How have wolves lived in the past, and what new way of life will they adopt?
Along with the gods who descend on the mountain, the spirits of our ancestors may also be watching over us.
The A-Un wolf protects this delicate, dangerous and mysterious experience of simulated death. The open mouth "A" represents the beginning of the world. The closed mouth "Un" represents the end of the world. This A-Un wolf closes off the world and protects Aoyama from the outside world.
Standing at the end of the world, Unzo is at a mature level and calmly absorbs the powerful force emanating from Azo.
However, the world is not "closed and finished."
Behind A-Un floats the full moon and new moon.
Like these celestial bodies, the world also repeats itself somewhere.
When I became a soul
What does a person look like when they die and become a spirit? In ancient Japanese snake worship, snakes were also considered ancestral gods. It's likely that other animals and plants were also considered ancestral gods. As generations have passed since then, are there times when we, the modern generation, remember our ancestors?
After a person dies,
Should I go to the mountains, return to the sea, or head to the afterlife?
In the Japanese view of life and death, the place where the souls of the dead are said to return is not limited to the mountains. It can also be beyond the sea, in heaven, or the Pure Land as envisioned in Buddhism, and in mythology, the afterlife, such as the underworld, is also considered a world related to death. Or, I think it is often thought of as some kind of vague afterlife called "the other world."
Until the moment of death, we cannot know what that place will be like, or even where it will be.
When exhibiting a work depicting an "entrance to the afterlife," I felt that this entrance also needed the protection of the unchanging truth. Not to protect it from the outside world like in "Seizan," but to prevent those who have taken the wrong path from wandering into this entrance, or to prevent those from the afterlife from emerging.
With a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse behind them, two wolves watch over those who approach the gate.
Pure Land and Beyond
In Japan, where Buddhism is deeply rooted, the Pure Land is also considered a destination in the afterlife. A world where Buddhas and Bodhisattvas live, free from worldly desires and impurities. It could be located on the top of a high mountain, or on a remote island floating in the sky.
In this work, I depict this Pure Land as a place enveloped in golden clouds, lush with pine trees, and where sacred water pools between rocks. From deep within, the sun rises, emitting a soft light. What would it be like to spend time there?
And does a world beyond this exist?
However, this repetition is by no means a "circle going around in the same place." Parents and children are different people, and this spring is different from last spring. The cycle of change, with gradual changes, resembles a spiral or whirlpool.
Galaxies swirl in the sky, whirlpools lie beneath our feet, and between them we weave life and death.
The vortex, which had peaked in one direction, passed through a ring of fire and turned in the opposite direction - like a symbol of eternity.
Changing and repeating.
To the beginning again. To the end again.
