Concept

Title: Heart Sutra

Regarding the functional role of Peace Memorial Park, I believe there are two aspects, namely “Prayer for Peace” and “Consolation of Souls”.
As the time goes by and we get farther away from the victims of Atomic Bomb, I feel that the aspect of “Consolation of Souls” becomes less important. I drew the “Heart Sutra” because I wanted to set down for someone living in 2045 the fact that there certainly used to be dedicated many wishes of “consolation of souls” around this neighborhood and that such souls were those who should have been destined to concern us living in 2022.
It is read sideways from left to right, starting with a pigeon which is a fan of the Carp, local professional baseball team, and ending with a carp, another fan of the Carp.
I have put in various artifices hoping to entertain would-be viewers.
I drew carps, pigeons and leaves of creeping lady’s sorrel or Oxalis around the picture. The carps or koi represent love, pigeons peace, and Oxalis leaves indicate that these wishes dwell here and there. As the three impressive words of Heart Sutra, “Emptiness”, “Form” and “Nothingness” are marked respectively, you are hopefully requested to locate and identify them.
As a whole, the hands which are outstretched mutually are depicted by the colors of letters.
I hope that you who look at the wall painting will feel as if you are looking at it also together with someone who is dear to you but not here now.

Profile

Born in Hiroshima, September 1968. Cartoonist
Graduating from Faculty of Liberal Arts, Open University of Japan, majoring in Search of human beings.
Made her commercial debut in 1995 by “Machikado-Hanadayori (Flower News of Street-corner)”. Principal works include: “Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms” (awarded with Grand prize of Comic section at 8th Media Arts Festival of Culture Agency and with New Life Prize in 9th Culture Prizes of Tezuka Osamu); “In this corner of the world” (Excellence prize of Comic section at 13th Media Arts Festival of Culture Agency); “Bo-ru-pen Kojiki” (Ballpoint pen record of ancient matters) (Hieda no Are Prize of Grand Prize for publicizing Kojiki in 2013)