Large Japanese-style Second Advent Cross mounted on Chapel wall at Cosolargy Center in Japan PHOTO: Yukako Kawai
Recently Yukako Kawai, an ordained member of the Community in Japan, created Second Advent Crosses out of wood to adorn the wall of the Chapel at the Community Center in Japan.
Yukako had not done any woodcarving since she was in junior high school. She just thought it would be nice if she could make the Crosses for the Community in Japan. At first, she wanted to use a single round wooden board to make the Cross, carving the American-style Cross on one side and the Japanese-style Cross on the other side. When she went to look for a wooden board at the lumber store, she found a big nice round wood board at store that she wanted to try to work with. But she thought it was too big and that there would not be enough space for it at the Center. So she bought a smaller round piece of wood 30 centimeters in diameter.
After the finishing the smaller wood Cross, she showed it to Bishop Yukinori Matsushita, who requested Yukako to make the bigger Cross. It was then she realized that it had been no coincidence that she saw the big round wood board at store, and she felt that somehow her consciousness was guiding her to make the Cross with it.
American-style Second Advent Cross PHOTO: Yukako Kawai
Japanese-style Second Advent Cross PHOTO: Yukako Kawai
Each side of the smaller cross design took about two weeks to carve and one week to paint, a total of 40 days. The larger Cross took about four weeks to carve and a week to paint, a total of 50 days.
By Noriko Roy