Seeth Of The Name Cards

Oil on Canvas 30 in x 24 in / 76 cm x 61 cm

If you drive through the tiny village if Iidaka, in the north east of Chiba Prefecture - when you pass by the last of the thatched cottages - you will come to the bottom of a long stone set of stairs, which lead up into darkness. And when you arrive at the top, with your legs aching from the climb, you will come to the old and disused seminary of Iidka Danrin. In the graveyard of the seminary I found a startlingly obscure grave - it was in the shape of a pillar box. And on the pillar box were written, in English, the words ‘Seeth Of The Namecards’. What it means are a mystery to me. Yet, the magic of that place has stayed with me.

Here I have placed a haniwa (a terra cotta figure from the Jomun Era), with animals coming to pay him tribute.