Faith in Self

Abstract In 1994, I migrated to New York City to pursue my art, freedom, and potential. Over the last 27 years, I learned to understand and respect the differences of people with different values, genders, religions, and races. I continued self-transforming by looking at issues from different angles with flexible thinking. Living far away from Japan, I reaffirmed my roots and rediscovered myself objectively. It’s especially interesting to me that the relationship between Japan and the United States has been strengthened through the atomic bomb. Behind this is the influence of Shinto and Buddhism on the Japanese way of thinking. Their teachings play a major role in peace operations. In addition, the power of faith is sometimes abused, and serious social problems are occurring. “Kusudama” means medicine ball. In my Peace and Harmony Workshop , many individual participants, who all experienced the same pandemic disaster, created medicine balls while sharing our common wishes for health, long life, and peace. Faith is, to me, the power to believe in ourselves. The symbolic work of a sphere, connecting faith and art, opens up a world full of charity, not division. Looking back on what I learned through my life and artwork, I consider and write about what kind of future we hope for, and what role religion and art can play.