Makoto Fujimura on Art and Faith

Golden Sea | Mineral Pigments and Gold on Kumohada, 80×64″, Collection of Roberta and Howard Ahmanson © 2011 Makoto Fujimura

Makoto Fujimura is an internationally recognized artist who has developed a unique fusion of traditional Japanese painting, Nihonga, with abstract expressionism.

A leading writer, speaker, and thinker on the intersection of art, faith, and culture, Fujimura published Art and Faith: A Theology of Making, with Yale University Press in 2021.

In this conversation, Fujimura shares his story and his wisdom on how art is a way of becoming human, how it can help us live with suffering, and even reveal the divine world in everyday life.

Topics covered include Miyazaki's vision of a post-atomic Japan, how William Blake's Jerusalem transformed the young Fujimura's life, and why the Western separation of nature and culture is foreign to Japan.

Becoming Human is available on Spotify, Apple, and Stitcher, and other podcast apps.