The Ikuo Hirayama Painting Exhibition will be held at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing from April 18 to 26, 2008. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/ Cao Jie]

The Japanese master artist, Ikuo Hirayama, is holding a solo exhibition of his paintings from April 18th to the 26th at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. Since 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the "China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty," the show serves as a tribute to this meaningful treaty.

Mr. Ikuo Hirayama was born in the Japanese city of Hiroshima where he lived through the nuclear blast of 1945. After the tough wartime years he devoted himself to promoting peace among human beings and he expresses his ideals through his paintings. Since 1975, he has visited China hundreds of times to help China preserve its cultural relics. He has also become the president of the Japan-China Friendship Association to improve relationships between the two countries.

Fan Di'an, the curator of the National Art Museum, shows his appreciation for Ikuo Hirayama.

"Mr. Ikuo Hirayama is not only an artist. He is an artist with cultural ideals. Since the 1980s, he has contributed much to the protection of cultural relics in China, such as the fresco in Dunhuang and the Nanjing City Wall. This has given the cultural exchanges between China and Japan a historical meaning."

Fan Di'an said the show was jointly designed by Mr. Ikuo Hirayama and the National Art museum to give visitors a full picture of Hirayama's art. The exhibition selected 46 of his works that share the theme of the "Silk Road," the place where oriental culture and occidental culture met.

The exhibition is drawing attention from both China and Japan. Chinese and Japanese officials, including Jia Qinglin, China's top political advisor, Sun Jiazheng, China's former Minister of Culture, Cai Wu, China's current Minister of Culture, Tomiichi Murayama, former Japanese prime minister, and Yuji Miyamoto, Japanese ambassador to China, all attended the opening ceremony to show their recognition of Mr. Ikuo Hirayama and to help further the cultural exchanges between the two countries.

On April 19th, Mr. Ikuo Hirayama will hold a forum with Chinese artists in Beijing.

Fan Di'an says that since the Japanese art was greatly influenced by Chinese art, the art from Japan can help remind Chinese artists of the traditions that have been gradually forgotten.