The characters warmly portrayed in these images by Kuroiwa Toyotaka are all Jizo (also written Jizô or Jizou - the final 'o' is long), a Buddhist character so widely revered in Japan that he has literally become part of the scenery. Stone statues can be seen everywhere, usually in rows, typically adorned with red bibs, and always seeming to smile.
Each of these pictures includes a little poem - illustrating the absence in Japanese artistic conventions of a sharp distinction between painting and calligraphy. I've attempted to give the flavour in a translation.
Jizo is the bodhisattva known as Ksitigarbha (in Sanskrit): more interesting details in the Wikipedia article and in Mark Schumacher's Buddhist corner
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The six Jizo figures in an idyllic country scene...
Kiyorakana kawa / sumiwataru sora / Arigatou / furusato
Limpid stream and clear sky... Thank you, my hometown
 The picture on the box has a number of "mistakes", slight differences from the puzzle.
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An Epoch puzzle: 1000 pieces; 75 x 50 cm (30" x 20")
Code: E59005 (59-005 on box)
Normally ¥3900 - special offer 15% off: ¥3315 (approx. US$34.89 €26.73 £22.55)
Shipping from ¥1200 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$12.63 €9.68 £8.16)
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The countryside in spring — brilliant yellow rapeseed flowers contrasting with the palest cherry blossom, and the six Jizo figures in the foreground. The haiku reads...
Kaeri-michi / na-no-hana-batake to / tooi sora
The homeward way, yellow rapeseed flowers, and distant sky
In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 1000 pieces; 75 x 50 cm (30" x 20")
Code: E11397 (11-397 on box)
Normally ¥3000 - special offer 15% off: ¥2550 (approx. US$26.84 €20.56 £17.35)
Shipping from ¥1200 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$12.63 €9.68 £8.16)
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The six Jizo figures look to be in a jolly mood, under an old spreading cherry tree. The inscription (folksy, rather than poetic) reads...
Yasumi-ni oide yo / sakura no oka-ni
Just come for a rest, on cherry mound...
In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 1000 pieces; 75 x 50 cm (30" x 20")
Code: E11427 (11-427 on box)
Normally ¥3000 - special offer 15% off: ¥2550 (approx. US$26.84 €20.56 £17.35)
Shipping from ¥1200 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$12.63 €9.68 £8.16)
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Kuroiwa Toyotaka
Toyotaka seal
The artist was born in Nagano in 1947, and specialises in Buddhist themes, with a distinctive whimsically warm style. (Kuroiwa is his family name - he signs his pictures with a stylised seal of his given name, Toyotaka.)
Deleted puzzles
For reference: you can view all the Kuroiwa puzzles that are out of print in the Attic.
