The Power to Imagine the Unseen
The Japanese have long sensed the presence of gods and spirits in nature—cultivating a culture rooted in an awareness of the invisible. This rich imaginative capacity blossomed into a refined popular culture during the Edo period, bringing depth and beauty to daily life and leaving a lasting impact on the world.
Yet today, as efficiency is increasingly prized under the forces of technological innovation and globalization, we seem to be losing both the creative spirit—and the openness to nurture it—that once defined the Japanese sensibility.
The works of Setsuo Kano, grounded in the ever-shifting concept of mujo (impermanence), are intentionally left untitled. Each piece invites viewers to engage through their own imagination—a quiet invitation to rediscover an inner way of seeing.
Through the works and activities of Setsuo Kano—who continues to express, in multifaceted contemporary forms, the “Japanese aesthetic” that reached its height in the Edo period and once captivated audiences around the world—we hope to pass on to present and future generations the subtle yet profound power to imagine the unseen, a sensibility long embedded in Japanese culture.
SETSUO KANO Project