Hirayama Ikuo

• HIRAYAMA IKUO, graduated from the Japanese Painting Department of Tokyo Fine Arts School, has been visiting China to hold solo exhibitions since 1975. In 1992, he became the president of the Japan-China Friendship Association, and enthusiastically cooperated in the preservation of Dunhuang artifacts in China. He is known as the "Tang Xuanzang of Today" in both China and Japan, and contributed greatly to cultural exchange between the two countries. He made his name in the Japanese art world with his work "The Introduction of Buddhism," and later became one of Japan's top painters for his Buddhist-themed paintings, including "Illusion of Nirvana" and the wall paintings in the Genjo Sanzangin Temple at Yakushiji Temple in Nara.