Yasunari Kawabata, the first Japanese recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature, delivered a commemorative lecture titled "My Beautiful Japan."

You may recall that Kenzaburo Oe, who received the same award 26 years later and was raised in the postwar era, gave a commemorative lecture titled "My Ambiguous Japan and Myself."

These two literary giants seem to have brilliantly captured in a single sentence the transformation of Japan from the pre-war to the post-war period.

Here, for the first time, we are revealing the complete "Sosan Hiketsu Emaki" (Illustrated Scroll of the Secrets of Hot Springs), which reminds us of the origins of the beautiful island nation of Japan!

Izusan Shrine, which Minamoto no Yoritomo worshipped as the guardian deity of the Shogun, and which Tokugawa Ieyasu also revered!

Befitting the sacred site of Atami, this secret scroll records the legend of the sacred place known as Hashiriyuzan, protecting the spirit of the spring water.

To rectify the current turmoil in the world and restore the spirit of our nation, scholars of Japanese literature, calligraphers, and painters have collaborated to create a scroll painting that is easy to understand, clearly written, and vividly depicts the gods of creation. This scroll will be displayed on the walls of the hall.

We, the staff, consider it an honor to publicly exhibit the original manuscript of this picture scroll at the Kakiden Gallery, located right at the entrance to Shinjuku Station, a place that boasts the prosperity of present-day Tokyo. We sincerely hope that this will help many people rediscover their pride in the origins of this ancient country.

Kaijo Masaomi

Text by: Mika Abe, PhD. Her research focuses on religious literature in medieval eastern Japan, particularly the legends of Izu, Hakone, and Mishima, and the Soga Monogatari (Tale of the Soga Brothers).

Illustrations by Houraku Nakamura : He paints images of the divine realm on ceramic vessels, drawing inspiration from them. "The Secrets of the Gods of Izusan Shrine" (text by Mika Abe) is a picture book that explains the world of the gods in an easy-to-understand way.

Calligraphy: Chitose While studying at Tokyo Gakugei University, she resonated with the calligraphy and spirit of Yuuichi Inoue and dedicated herself to presenting her work in solo exhibitions.