KUMICHO【組長】 There is a term of men’s masculinity which is called Ninkyoudou(任侠道) in Japan, and Ninkyoudou also represents consideration for other people as they cannot leave behind someone who is in trouble for their justice even if they have to sacrifice themselves. Currently, there are several groups of Yakuza, which is a name for the Japanese mafia. Furthermore, there are so many gang groups and mafias in the world. We have an image for those antisocial groups that threaten people and rob money or stuffs from someone weaker. Currently, Ninkyou is a term for those Yakuza groups. They were supposed to have the mind of helping weaker people, but unfortunately, the activity and thought that Yakuza members have is in contrast to the Ninkyoudou now. In the period when people esteemed Ninkyoudou (mainly Edo period ~ Meiji period), there were people who were on the summit of the organization, corresponded to other groups, and lead their subordinates. Those leaders have been called KUMICHO. The reason why he put the title KUMICHO on this art is that he wants the Ninkyou-spirit to exist today around our society. Japan is the only nation that has experienced being exposed to the atomic bomb radiation during the final stage of World War 2. Moreover, on March 2011, a significant earthquake and tsunami hit the Tohoku region in Japan, and the earthquakes destroyed one of the nuclear power plants that lead to the radioactive contaminant. In the world, there are also unexpected natural disasters like hurricanes. Some countries are still fighting with their hostile country or even domestically. We are always living with such menaces, and people are gradually losing their energy, vitality, and future as they live through it. It does not seem to end even in receiving this kind of bad news. Especially for him, since he experienced the Tohoku earthquake, the disaster changed his value and lifestyle that he had had until that day. Therefore, the experience has been strongly inciting and motivating him to create those wonderful arts and he hopes that his art encourage those people who lost their motivation to confront their difficulties. “Don’t give up”, ”You are not alone”, “Tomorrow will be brighter”. He has been sending those messages to viewers and he will be glad even if a few people receive those messages and are encouraged by the art. The IREZUMI, covering his whole body, is a symbol of patience. These sorrowful eyes in poker face represent that he is carrying several pasts. If you look at his feet, you realize that he does not have any fingers. In unique and painful custom of NINKYOU(currently YAKUZA), they cut their own finger with a knife to show their respect toward hostile groups when they wanted to finish fighting with their opponent. This custom is called YUBITSUME( 指詰め), and his feet, thus, representing the perfect shape of NINKYOUDOU. The model of this huge and brave dog is Tosa-ken that is mainly considered as dogs for dog fighting in Japan from a long time ago, and the flower in the IREZUMI is the Chrysanthemum that is known worldwide as a common flower that mourns for death. Zensui depicted the chrysanthemum to show the respect for the life and death of Benkei(弁慶), who is an ancient historical Japanese person. In Japanese history, Benkei was a rowdy fellow in his childhood. When he became an adult, he started making an effort to plunder 1000 of the samurai‘s swords after defeating them. He achieved 999 swords, but he was beat by the 1000th person Ushiwakamaru (牛若丸) (a.k.a. Yoshitsune Minamotono: within the dynasty Heian period). From that time on, he worked for Ushiwakamaru as a servant during his whole life. On his deathbed, hostile armies tried to attack Ushiwakamaru, and Benkei struggled to protect Ushiwakamaru from the attack. He was very strong but the enemies were too many for him to deal with. Eventually, Benkei got countless arrows on his whole body, but the strength of his soul that wanted to protect Ushiwakamaru kept him standing even though he was already dead. This is the legend of Benkei and Ushiwakamaru. Many people respect and have been influenced by this legend. Zensui is one of them, and he concluded that their ways of life are suitable to describe an impression of KUMICHO. That would be the best if we could have strong and unbeatable spirit every moment as Benkei, but sometimes we must confront the huge wall we have to get over. In short, the message that Zensui wants to send us through this art is “Stay on your feet! Be confident as KUMICHO!”