Since time immemorial, man has coexisted with beasts. Fear of beasts and, on the other hand, mastery of the art of using beasts to enrich our lives has led to the growth of human societies. In many religions around the world, beasts appear sometimes as gods and sometimes as awe-inspiring monsters. The four gods and the qilin, the subject of this issue, are divine beasts that originated in China and have long been revered by people as protectors of humankind. The four gods are the Suzaku, the White Tiger, the Blue Dragon, and the Xuanwu, which protect the four directions of east, west, south, north, and west. In addition, a kylin was added to the center of these four, and they came to be known as the Five Spirits. In his previous works, he has expressed the fusion of many animals with plants and flowers, but this time he has taken on the challenge of sublimating the Five Spirits, the beasts of the gods, into an art form by depicting them in his own unique interpretation.
