The Telegraph 10 April 2001

IKIRO / Be Alive, Recent Japanese Art in the Kröller-Müller Museum
Writing Meditation

Since the 5th of May 1997 the day the Japanese artist Takahiro Suzuki celebrated his 30th birthday, he has been writing the word IKIRO on the sheet of rice paper many times a day. IKIRO means "Be alive". The character IKIRO appeared in notebook for the first time when he had a difficult period when he was young. In the notebook he wrote letters to his big hero Vincent Van Gogh. He felt the word IKIRO gave him encouragement and power to persevere to become an artist. In the meantime it has become a daily routine or a meditation. (....)