When depicting Japan’s four seasons snowscapes create a powerful image. At the end of January, 2020, shortly before the news became filled with reports of the Covid pandemic,
I was able to fulfill a lifelong desire to visit Tsuruimura in Hokkaido’s Kushiro district.
There I witnessed a flock of over one hundred cranes…
They appeared to float up into the air before sinking back to earth as they performed their mating
displays and the sight of them possessed an indescribable beauty. I was greatly moved and felt strongly
that this spectacle equaled the image of Mt. Fuji as a symbol of Japan.
The changing of the seasons is an extremely important aspect of Japanese culture.
Mt. Fuji always exists in the same place, and while it cannot be denied that it possesses great symbolic
significance, I believe a truly great scene also requires timing and this is something that the cranes,
which migrate here annually, share this with the flowers of the four seasons.
The transitory beauty that we experience through watching the falling cherry blossom or autumn
leaves evokes a sentimentality as we realize we won’t see them again until another year.
However, the four seasons never let us down and always return.
The unique culture that developed in Japan has always reflected the changing of the seasons.
The theme for this exhibition is that of snow, that transforms even the most mundane scenery into
something magical.
Daisuke Nakano
