Happy New Year. Thank you for your continued support this year. We sincerely wish you all happiness and good health.
![](https://around-tokyo-on.earth/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2024正月絵_龍神_murasaki_1000_op-1-636x900.png)
Illustration “Purple Dragon”
This year’s New Year’s painting is the Year of the Dragon, so I worked on a dragon for the first time. It was inspired by the statue of the Dragon King of Sakara at Sensoji Temple. You can see a woman as the incarnation of a dragon, or you can see a man who was a woman’s lover becoming a dragon for some reason, and I want you to enjoy your imagination freely, but I wanted to depict them as one and the same.
Also, since it is a New Year’s illustration, I wanted it to be something that invites happiness, so I included auspicious winter flowers.
◇ Ice Adonis: Inviting happiness
◇ Eranthis pinnatifida: Luster
◇ Dendrobium: Attraction
◇ Carnation: Pure Love
◇ Oxalis: Radiant Heart
◇ Jasmine: Quiet and obedient
Statue of the Dragon King
I have been to Sensoji Temple many times, but this was the first time I walked around the temple grounds at night.
During the day, I passed by the water house without paying attention to it, but that night, I was amazed at the beauty and dignity of the dragon god statue illuminated by the lights under the water house.
It was a beautiful evening. There was a sacred air in the air, as if the gods and Buddha had escaped from the statue and were walking around in the darkness.
![高村光雲作 沙竭羅竜王像(さからりゅうおうぞう)](https://around-tokyo-on.earth/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ryujin_4-665x900.jpg)
Shagara-Ryuou [-Riyu Wau]【沙伽羅竜王/沙羯羅竜王】
One of the Eight Great Dragon Kings. The guardian deity of Buddhism. It is said that it lives in the sea and controls the water.
Quote from:What is Shagara Ryuoh? Meaning and usage – コトバンク (kotobank.jp)
![高村光雲作 沙竭羅龍王像](https://around-tokyo-on.earth/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ryujin-2_op-663x900.jpg)
![高村光雲作 沙竭羅龍王像](https://around-tokyo-on.earth/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ryujin-3_op-901x900.jpg)
![五重塔](https://around-tokyo-on.earth/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/asakusa_1-699x900.jpg)
![本堂(観音堂)](https://around-tokyo-on.earth/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/asakusa_2-1190x900.jpg)