Yogen-in Temple, Go’o Shrine, Hokinji Temple of the Myoshinji School of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, Shosonji Temple of the Honganji School of Shin Buddhism, Higashiyama Jisho-ji Temple (Ginkakuji Temple), Daizenin Temple of the Shin Buddhism Koji School, Busshoji Temple of the Honganji School of Shin Buddhism, Yogenin Temple of Sokokuji, Juryoji Temple of the Nichiren School, Chudoji Temple of the Nichiren School, Saihoji Temple of the Jodo School, Myoho-in Head Temple of the Tendai School Sanjusangendo Monzeki, Tokuhoji Temple of the Honganji School of Shin Buddhism, Chisan School of Shingon Buddhism Enmeiin Temple, Mt. Shigi Daihonzan Gyokuzoin Temple, Otani School of Shin Buddhism Shofukuji Temple, Nichiren School Jisso-in Temple, Jodo Shin Honganji Mt. Kashiwara Ryusen Temple, scenic spot Murinan, Myokoji Temple of the Nichiren School, Soto School Entsuzan Kozenji Temple, Jonen-ji Temple of the Jodo  Shinshu Honganji School, Ganshoji Temple of Jodo Shinshu Honganji School, Jodo Shinshu Honganji School Sairenji Temple, Myoshinji School of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, Mt. Umaya Horinji Temple of Jodo Shinshu Honganji School, Gyokuryuzan Hoshoji Temple of the Soto School of Buddhism

The head priest from Shunko-in of Myoshin-ji Temple came to ask for a folding screen to be placed in his zazen meditation space.
It was quite an interesting and stimulating first meeting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we talked a lot about our thoughts, the future of society, matters of the heart, faith, beauty, and so on.
I was later contacted by him, pleased to read “I really enjoyed my conversation with Toto, not to mention the karakami. Words like ‘latent,’ ‘chaos,’ and ‘heart’ resonated with me so much. Even now, the conversation we had is still spinning around in my head. It is truly a flurry of tacit knowledge.” I laughed to myself privately, thinking that I would have a long relationship with this priest.
For me, being with karakami on a daily basis is like practicing zazen. The act of dying dozens or hundreds of sheets and transferring the power of the pattern from the woodblocks to the paper hones both mind and body, and you turn inward… eventually, a moment of nothingness arrives.
That, for me, is a time of pure sublimated bliss.
Karakami, which coexists with zazen, is something that is captured by the mind’s eye, and I offered a worldview that depicts shades of white on white. The priest commented “I feel as if something has been purified by running water and the power of both the dragon and the dragon turtle.”

It’s not there, but it is there… sort of.
It is truly karakami with a sense of presence.

────── Karakami Artist Toto Akihiko

It was a memorable job.
After all, the beauty of the karakami that was delivered led to the renovation of the entire 300-year-old house.
One day, a young woman who had inherited a 300-year-old samurai residence paid a visit to our atelier. The sliding doors of that house had karakami with a cloud-and-crane pattern that had been handed down from our ancestors, and we were able to restore the doors with the same finish as before.
The mica-printed kumotsuru (cloud and crane) karakami was housed in a space with a spear rack, which speaks to the history of the house. Karakami resides there as in days gone by, perfectly at home in the dignified space.
Incidentally, this cloud-and-crane pattern, which had existed in the Matsukura family for several hundred years, was the same karakami pattern as the one used in the Honmaru Goten Palace of Nijo Castle. The reference photo, which I took while I visited the site with Kyoto City officials, shows the sliding doors of the Honmaru Goten. Although the colors and textures are different because the photo was taken with a flashlight in the pitch dark while the building was closed for restoration, the karakami in Nijo Castle uses gold fold coloring applied to a foundation dyed in greenish-blue.

In addition to the restored karakami, other sliding doors were fitted with karakami using patterns selected in consultation with the young heiress, and Toto Blue karakami was also included in the project.
As a result, the we were able to successfully combine old and new karakami in a powerful architectural structure with a rich history of 300 years, and this space, a fusion of traditional karakami and karakami that reveals the beauty of the current era, has emerged before our eyes to create a fascinating world.
The young woman and I, who is in a position to carry on tradition and shepherd the present into the future, really hit it off, and we remain good friends to this day.

There is more to this project story.
After the karakami was delivered, the family was delighted, but the young woman’s mother decided that the surroundings did not match the dignity and beauty of the karakami, and to everyone’s surprise, she decided to renovate the room and then the entire building.
Later, under the esthetic ideals of the mother and daughter, the traditional yamato-mune (high walled structure) was repaired to be more earthquake resistant and beautifully restored as architecture employing the authentic textures of Echizen wiped lacquer and traditional Kanazawa Gunsei (ultramarine) walls, along with our karakami.

────── Karakami Artist Toto Akihiko

2012
Began work on the restoration of karakami on a byobu folding screen givinga full view of Edo.

November 2011
Karakami produced for the inauguration commemoration ceremony of Nikin Temple of the Myoshinji School of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, the first such ceremony in 350 years.