These eight sliding-door paintings are part of the fifty works created by Kaiho Yusho for the early modern restoration of Kennin-ji Temple. Now designated as Important Cultural Property, they originally adorned the temple’s Reception Room—the first space where guests were received upon entering the abbot’s quarters.
On the north wall, a dragon bursts through clouds with a thunderous roar. On the west wall, another dragon fixes a powerful, intimidating glare as if waiting in ambush. Both are rendered with swirling clouds and overwhelming energy.
Since the early modern period, dragons have been a motif particularly favored by both the warrior class and Zen temples, and they were also a subject at which Kaiho Yusho excelled. In this large-scale composition—one that demands the full measure of an artist’s skill—Yusho deploys his brushwork without reserve. The result is a work that can be counted among the finest of his dragon paintings.