Drawing from Dostoevsky’s magnum opus, The Brothers Karamazov, Ishikawa here used an excerpt from Book Five, Chapter Five, titled The Grand Inquisitor. In this chapter, Ivan Karamazov narrates his own dramatic poem, The Grand Inquisitor, to his brother Alexei (Alyosha). The passage captures the scene where the “Grand Inquisitor,” an elderly man, expounds on the incompatibility of the guarantee of life, represented by bread, and freedom, asserting that many will choose to relinquish their freedom for the sake of survival.

Reflecting on the time when he created this work, Ishikawa later remarked:

“The 1990s—perhaps not unlike any other era—were marked by a frenzy of capitalist speculation, as if the whole world were just one big casino, underpinned by the absurd idea that money simply creates more money. The irreplaceable substance of ordinary people’s lives was increasingly eroded. At the same time, the strangest crimes began to proliferate. I felt as if I were hearing the echoes of Crime and Punishment—only in a contemporary version. Building on this sentiment, I began working with passages from Dostoevsky (1821–1881)’s Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, contemplating the cries of modern-day Raskolnikovs, strangled by the soft noose of our times.” (“A Continuing Revolution in Expression”)

He also noted that witnessing the scenes of the September 11 attacks the following year evoked a sense of déjà vu with these works.

Ishikawa Kyuyoh (calligrapher; b. 1945)

Born in Fukui Prefecture, Japan in 1945. Graduated from the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University. After serving as a professor at Kyoto Seika University and the director of the Institute for Writing and Civilizations, he is now an emeritus professor at the same university. Ishikawa has elucidated the concept that "calligraphy is the art of brush touch (using the term 'taction')," and interprets the structure and history of calligraphy. As a critic, he is also active in discussions on the Japanese language and culture, which have had a significant impact across various fields. In both his artistic creations and written works, Ishikawa continues to produce cutting-edge expressions and insights. His body of work includes over 2,000 calligraphic pieces and more than 100 published books.