This year marks the 140th anniversary of the birth and 60th anniversary of the death of Katori Hidemasa, Kisaku's closest friend.
Kisaku and Hidemasa first met when Kisaku asked Hidemasa to create a gilt bronze statue of Amida Buddha to commemorate the death of his father. At first, their relationship was simply that of a client and a writer, but they shared a commonality: a strong admiration for Shiki's literature. As they continued to interact, their relationship grew stronger.
Kisaku organized a distribution event for Hidema's works, and encouraged Hidema to evacuate to Matsumoto after his house burned down during the war. During his stay in Matsumoto, he maintained a warm relationship with his family. After the war, he also worked on the construction of a stone monument to commemorate Hidema, who left behind many songs in Matsumoto.
This time, we hope you will be able to see the friendship between Kisaku and Hidemasa through this work.