• Hardcover: 96 pages
  • Publisher: KAISEI-SHA (2000)
  • ISBN-10: 4030190707
  • ISBN-13: 978-4030190702
  • Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches

Tomihiro Hoshino was a 24-year-old gymnastics teacher when he injured his neck demonstrating a double somersault to his junior high school students. Since then he has been completely paralyzed from the neck down. 

In a split second, he went from an active life, enjoying gymnastics and mountain climbing, to lying motionless in Gunma Orthopedic Hospital, where he remained for the next nine years. Respiratory problems and other complications brought him close to death several times and he recalls that there were even moments when he wanted to die. Gradually, however, his physical condition stabilized and improved, and with this, his mental composure returned. 

The next big turning point in Hoshino' life came in 1972, two years after his accident. One of Hoshino's fellow patients was being transferred to a different hospital and asked all the people in the ward to sign his canvas beach hat as a momento. Paralyzed, Tomihiro was at a complete loss how to sign the hat, until, with the help of his mother, he managed to hold a pen in his mouth and painstakingly write "Tomo." 

"Later," Hoshino recalls, "I noticed some flowers that a friend had brought me as a gift in the window of my hospital room. Every day I gazed at those flowers until it seemed they had become bigger than I was. When I couldn't sleep at night I felt as if those motionless flowers and I existed in the universe in complete isolation ...I felt that God loved me as much as He loves such things of beauty." 

Wanting to express his heartfelt joy in this revelation, Hoshino began to write poems and paint flowers, gradually developing his unusual technique. "I had never made a special study of painting or poetry," he explains, "but I believed that if I depicted the things God had created honestly, as they actually are, I could without a doubt create beautiful pictures." 

Hoshino was baptized as a Christian in his hospital bed in 1974, after reading a bible passage which he paraphrases as follows: "It is ironic that it was only after I had an accident that prevented me from being able to walk through nature that I could fully appreciate its beauty." Hoshino continued to paint until he had amassed enough work to hold a show. His first exhibition opened in his hometown of Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, four months before he was finally able to leave the hospital. 

Now a married man, Hoshino is still paralyzed and continues to produce paintings by holding a brush in his mouth. He has produced hundreds of works, many of which have been published in illustrated books of poems and essays - including " From an Abyss" and "Journey of the Wind" - and displayed at the Tomihiro Hoshino Museum (see homepage) and exhibitions around the world. Hoshino has also been the subject of Japanese television dramas and some of his poetry was set recently to music for a performance by the International Christian University High School Choir. 

Hoshino modestly asks that we not regard his work as the product of a handicapped man or allow emotions of sympathy or admiration to stand in the way of our natural appreciation. He hopes his pictures will stand as superb works of art in themselves. 

Nevertheless, English translators of his poems maintain that his work is pleasing to the eye, fascinating to the mind and also is a shining example of human endeavor in the face of almost insuperable hardship. It is humbling to think that, but for a twist of fate, the world might never have encountered this incredible talent. 

Cathy Frances


For sale is  a rare hard2find classic Hardcover book.

Beautifully illustrated.

Pre-owned kept in very nice condition.

May have slight shelf wear to cover or page tanning. 

Excellent for Art History, Self Help, Student, Teacher, Parent, Professional, 
Researcher and/or Collector.

Will make a great addition to any collection.

Thank you for bidding. Good Luck.

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