Purification, Meditation, and the Realm of Spirit in Japanese Art and Contemporary Calligraphy

Koji and Susan Nakao

Did you know that Japanese art, like Japanese culture, is strongly influenced by the “Realm of Spirit?” Are you aware that both the subject matter and creative methodologies used in Japanese art frequently have a strong connection to Shinto and Buddhist practices, especially those connected with purification and meditation? Please join us as we explore some of the connections between Japanese art, contemporary Japanese calligraphy, and the Realm of Spirit.

Susan, a former art education professor, took students enrolled in one of her summer art offerings at Emporia State University to Japan in the summer of 2009. She and her husband, Koji, assisted in the translation of a biography, “The Shōsho of Teshima Yūkei,” (2009), authored by his son, Tairiku Teshima and published in English by L.H. Yōkō Shuppan, 2014. Susan also assisted in the translation of a children’s book, “The Tower of Light,” by Takuzo Yoshimura, with illustrations by Kota Sato, published in English by L.H. USA in 2012. Koji served as a “priest/Doshi” in a Japanese spiritual practice of purification for more than 40 years until his retirement in 2021. The couple now own and care for a small Yōkō farm in Franklin County, KS, near Ottawa.