もう十五・六年も前になるだろうか、十二百年の歴史を秘める比叡山にあって、僧として最初の「行」に挑んだ白髪素道師が、北塔横川にある四季講堂の護摩堂で、満業を前に護摩の行法を修している懸命な姿に接した時、紅蓮の炎に浮か び上がった行者・素道師の表情は、不道命王そのものだったことが今も鮮やかに私の脳裏に残っている。

それは、白髪一雄が素道となった証であり、鮮やかな赤が黄色を飲み込んで、黄金色を飲み込んでキャンバスの上をうねり、ほとばしって強烈な印象を画布に与えた「天満星美髭公」や「韃靼」の世界を空間に表現した瞬間でもあった。

10代の若い修行僧でも、その厳しさに悲鳴をあげるという「行件の比叡山修行はまた、その後にも大きな意味をもたらしう 「行」に、五十才を越した身でもって真正面から取り組み、絶対に逃げない「求道心」の強さは、指導にあたった比叡の荒法師を感服させただけではなく豊かな感性をもって「行」を昇華させてゆく一途さは、たちまち山中各地に籠る行者の話題となり、指針ともなった。

その後の生活でも、自動師が一つの世界を表現し、その本質 を掴むことは、体験の深さによって開明していった抽象の 画法とは密接なつながりをもっている。

比叡山瑞王院住職　山田能裕　1990「白髪一雄展」　GALLERY KASAHARA  カタログより一部抜粋

It must have been fifteen or sixteen years ago, when I saw the monk Shiraga Sodo, who had attempted his first "ascetic practice" on Mount Hiei, which has a history of 1200 years, practicing the goma ritual before the completion of his training, in the goma hall of the Shiki-kodo Hall in Yokokawa, Hokuto, I still vividly remember the expression of the ascetic Sodo, which emerged in the crimson flames, being the very image of King Fudo Myoho.

It was proof that Shiraga Kazuo had become Sodo, and it was also the moment when the world of "Tenman Hoshi Bihigeko" and "Tartar", in which the vivid red swallowed up the yellow and gold, swelled and gushes across the canvas, leaving a strong impression on the canvas, was expressed in space.

The training at Mt. Hiei, where even young teenage monks would cry out in horror at its rigour, would continue to have great significance for the rest of his life.Yamada Yoshihiro, head of the 50-year-old monk Shiraga took on the training head-on, and his strength of willingness to never run away not only impressed the Hiei monk instructor, but also his single-mindedness in elevating the training with his rich sensibility, which quickly became a topic of conversation and a guide for ascetics retreating to various parts of the mountains.

Even in his later life, the way that the monk expresses a world and grasps its essence is closely linked to the abstract painting techniques that became clear to him through the depth of his experiences.

Yamada Yoshihiro, chief priest of Mt. Hiei Zuiouin Temple, excerpted from the catalogue for the 1990 "Shiraga Kazuo Exhibition" at GALLERY KASAHARA