Festival enthusiast Yoshio Ayabe donated his ink painting "Rising Dragon" to Hokuryu Town [Enjoy! A Senior Couple's Happy Life]

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

On Tuesday, September 15th, a sumi-e (ink painting) titled "Rising Dragon" by festival artist Yoshio Ayabe was donated to Hokuryu Town with the message, "May the plague be banished! May Hokuryu Town develop like a rising dragon."

Their mentor, Mr. Yoshio Ayabe (79 years old), was the art teacher of Terauchi Noboru and Ikuko when they were in junior high school. At the time, Noboru belonged to the six-person volleyball club, and Mr. Ayabe was the advisor and coach. Mr. Ayabe was a strict coach and thoroughly trained Noboru.

Ayabe-sensei has been illustrating the Kurayami Festival, an annual festival held at Okunitama Shrine in Fuchu, Tokyo, for over 50 years.

▶ The motivation for the donation

Three years ago, in 2017, five of my classmates from Fuchu Municipal Fuchu Fifth Junior High School (Fuchu City, Tokyo) and my former teacher, Mr. Ayabe, came to Hokkaido on a trip and visited Hokuryu Town.

Since then, Noboru has created a website for Professor Ayabe, and the two continue to keep in touch to this day.

One day, during a phone conversation, I told him about the celebration that volunteers from Hokuryu Town had organized to celebrate our 10th anniversary of moving here, and he was very moved and said, "Hokuryu Town is a wonderful town!"

We received a very kind message: "In this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, I would like to donate my ink painting of a rising dragon to the town, praying for the eradication of the epidemic and the development of Hokuryu Town."

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