A wooden tray by Yabe Takayoshi carved with an auspicious design by Shimizu Hian with the phrase Buji-sokusai. Buji Sokusai is a traditional Japanese expression meaning literally: (buji) “without incident” or “safe,” and Sokusai “free from illness,” or “in good health.” It often appears in Buddhist or Shintō contexts, prayers, or New Year’s greetings, expressing the hope to live through the year without calamity or illness. The tray is 27 cm (11 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.
Shimizu Hian (1883-1975) was a popular poet and painter of the early modern period born in Takahashi City, the grandson of the feudal lord a Bicchu-Matsuyama castle. He created his own unique form of expression combining three arts, poetry, calligraphy, and painting. He graduated law studies from the prestigious Kyoto University, and took a position in Kobe District Court. A social activist, from there he wandered through various positions, bank clerk, office worker, mayor of a small town. Shimizu followed the traditional style of literati calligraphy and painting, while at the same time creating a completely new way of expression. At the age of 84, he became a household name when he was chosen to be the master of ceremonies at the opening of the Imperial Poetry Reading Ceremony。His paintings were lauded by such greats as Kawai Gyokudo and Konoshima Keika, and he was a true literati in life style. Work by him is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, The National Museum of Asian Art (Freer Sackler Branch) of the Smithsonian in Washington DC, Okayama Prefectural Museum.
