The Buddha of Art and Love

Shūun has given his youth to carving Buddhist images. Determined to learn from the old masters, he sells his possessions and sets out from Kyoto. On the winter road through Kiso, a young woman selling preserved flowers interrupts his single-minded devotion.

Otatsu’s beauty first captures his attention; the story of her mother and the cruelty of her uncle draw him further. His attempt to help her becomes a bond neither craftsmanship nor clear reasoning can contain. When a discovery transforms her social position, their promised future is suddenly threatened.

Unable to forget her, Shūun turns to the wood beneath his knife. But what does he carve: the woman herself, his desire, or a sacred presence? As an innkeeper’s practical advice meets the artist’s longing, the tale moves from comic conversation toward an extraordinary, uncertain encounter.