It is the season of **Kokuu**, when rain falls to nourish new life.

Day by day, the mountains deepen in green, and everything born in spring rises upward with powerful energy.
At times, I feel as though I am being left behind by that vitality.

I began this work in winter.

What I carried within me then were silver skies, monochrome clouds, cold wind, and harsh rain.
I wanted to create a homage to the great Wind and Thunder Gods that have been painted in the past.

Yet no matter how many times I repainted it, I could not see the form it was meant to take.
My brush came to a stop.

Time passed without my brush moving forward, and eventually spring arrived.

One day, while I was working on another painting in my studio, thunder echoed through the mountains, and a warm rain began to fall.

As I gazed absentmindedly out the window, it seemed as though the dry earth was drinking that rain deeply.

In that moment, color appeared on the surface where I had completely lost sight of the image.

I realized that the gods I had been searching for were not gods who inspire fear and awe.
They were the ones who carry moist, gentle winds; thunder softly echoing through distant mountains; beings who quietly nurture newly sprouted life.

**Fu’u Junsei** is a phrase that expresses the way wind and rain bestow blessings upon all things and nurture life.

I depicted my Wind and Thunder Gods as adorable babies who bring such gentle blessings.

May such gentle rain also fall upon the hearts of people throughout the world, dried by conflict and anger.