Within the composition: Mount Gongen is rendered as a Dragon, the left-hand slope of Gongen as a Tortoise, the sea of clouds to the right as a Hōō (Phoenix), and, layered across the entire canvas, a Kirin (the auspicious divine beast)—together expressing the four sacred creatures. The title “Enku” (炎駒, Flame Kirin) takes its name from the red Kirin.

From the distant view of Mount Fuji sweeping into the sea of clouds on the left, I have painted a Hero with a sword.

The single line stretching from left to right across the canvas is an arrow in flight. It is layered with the image of Arjuna—one of the heroes of the Bhagavad Gita, the sacred scripture of ancient India—“drawing the celestial bow Gāṇḍīva and releasing his arrow.”

The Rainbow Dragon rising above the sea of clouds on the left represents the Tibetan Jalü Phowa Chenpo (the Great Transference of Consciousness)—the phenomenon said to be the highest liberation on earth, in which one’s body dissolves into the light of the five primordial elements and returns to the heavens.