Shu Bi Do is an antique shop specializing in Japanese paintings beginning with the Muromachi and Edo periods, and extending through the Meiji, Taisho, Showa, and Heisei eras.

Shu Bi Do is located in the town of Hokuei in Tottori Prefecture, Japan.  This area is famous for its beautiful scenery including mountains, lakes, sand dunes, and the Sea of Japan.  In addition, Tottori has a rich tradition of promoting Cha-no-yu, the Japanese tea ceremony.

The mission of Shu Bi Do is to foster and encourage the appreciation and enjoyment of Japanese art, especially by people living outside of Japan.  We hope that our website will provide an opportunity to introduce Japanese painting and art to people around the world.

The owner of Shu Bi Do Antiques has well-established relationships with private collectors, local dealers, and support personnel in Japan.  Thus, the owner has many sources from which to acquire the Japanese works of art featured here on the website.

Shu Bi Do is particularly fortunate to have enlisted the assistance of Mr. Yoshizo Kodani for insightful critique and explanations of the paintings featured here. Mr. Kodani was born in Tottori Prefecture in 1934, and is a lifelong scholar and teacher of Japanese and Chinese literature.  Prior to his retirement, Mr. Kodani taught at Kurayoshi Higashi High School.  Currently, he offers private classes in Confucian philosophy and on the famous "The Tale of Genji" story.

Mr. Yoshizo Kodani

Mr Kodani is the author of many books, including biographies of Kawai Kiyomaru, Ikeda Kanzan, and a recent work entitled "Word and Spirit" which explains Mr. Kodani’s philosophy that words carry deeper underlying spiritual meaning.  Of particular note is Mr. Kodani’s biography of the life of the Edo-age Nagasaki School artist, Hijikata Torei.  In this work, Mr. Kodani compares and contrasts the works of Torei with other artists including Maruyama Okyo, Tani Buncho, and Ike Taiga.  In this book, Mr. Kodani highlights the long-standing dispute that Torei had with Okyo concerning artistic philosophy, and he emphasizes the superiority and elegance of Torei’s works compared to those by Okyo.  This book about Torei’s life and works was awarded a Tottori Prefecture publishing prize in 2001.

An avid collector of Japanese paintings, Mr. Kodani owns an extensive personal collection with works from the Muromachi period to the modern period of Japanese art. 
Through his teaching, Mr. Kodani encourages his students to seek "Truth, Virtue, and Beauty" in life, as he himself does, and to realize that through art we can sense the spiritual world that lies beyond this physical world.

A more extensive list of Mr. Kodani’s books and essays follows:

Kawai Kiyomaro and Surrounding People (1977)
Calligraphy of Ikeda Souan (1977)
Shogaki Tekisho and His Genealogy (1988)
Biography of Ikeda Kanzan (1990)
Word and Spirit (1994)
Biography of Kawai Kiyomaru (1998)
Biography of Hijikata Torei (2001)
Essays in Shincho 45, Shukan Bunsyun, Syukan Shincho