Tokugawa Family Temple Celebrates 400 Years; Artist of Ceiling Painting Given Honor

Kaneiji temple, the renowned family temple of the Tokugawa shogunate, is holding a Buddhist service to celebrate its 400th anniversary in Ueno, Tokyo. The ceremony, which included the scattering of colorful paper petals and the chanting of sutras, took place under the colossal ceiling painting, “Eigaku Soryu” (Double Dragons above Hieizan). Following the service, the artwork’s painter, Yuji Tezuka — a professor emeritus of Tokyo University of the Arts — was honored with the title of master painter of Buddhist images.