On his journey through Japan Peter Polter discovered a painting by the great expressionist artist Sesshū Tōyō (1420-1506) in the National Museum of Kyoto, in its section displaying the works of 15th-century artists. Tōyō’s painting depicted the magician Huang Chuping transforming, by means of grandiose gestures, a stone into a goat. Huang Chuping lived in the time of the Jin Dynasty (circa 200 to 400). He was born into a humble shepherd-family – but went on to acquire magical skills by practising asceticism. Peter Polter decides that he, too, will discover the magical skills that lie within him. He travels to Yakushima, to the forest of Shiratani Unsuiko, and gives himself seven ascetic exercises to perform there. For the Japanese, Yakushima, particularly its cedar forest of Shiratani Unsuiko, is the famous showplace of «Prinzessin Mononoke», a cartoon film made in 1997 by Hayao Miyazaki.
First Publication: 12-9-2011
Modifications: 20-2-2012