AKEJI SUMIYOSHI

住吉明治

You didn’t come this far to stop

Master calligrapher, Japanese National Treasure.

Akeji Sumiyoshi (1938-2018) is a Japanese artist, master of calligraphy (shodō) and sumi-e painting. Born in Kyoto, he embodies the quintessence of traditional Japanese art, while infusing it with a profound contemporary sensibility. His life and work are rooted in the principles of Zen, which he has studied and practiced all his life.

Trained from an early age by sumi-e and shodō masters, Akeji soon developed a singular approach, in which technique is placed at the service of a demanding spiritual quest. His works, marked by elegant simplicity and silent expressiveness, reflect this inner quest.

While remaining faithful to tradition, Akeji profoundly renews the language of calligraphy. By freeing himself from established codes, he invents a gestural and poetic style, combining free gestures, original compositions and natural materials. His work offers a new reading of shodō, where intuition, nature and Zen dialogue with great aesthetic freedom.

Nature is at the heart of his practice: depending on the season, he gathers seeds, bark, roots or flowers in the mountains, from which he extracts pigments using traditional - often secret - processes. These living colors nourish his inks, papers and gestures.

His work expresses an intimate connection with the plant world and the rhythm of the seasons, reflecting a way of life in harmony with his environment. Living as a hermit in the mountains, Akeji draws deep and sincere inspiration from this solitude.