Beauty of the ancient city. The surprising news came that the murals of Kond_ in H_ry_-ji were burnt down. A burst of phrases like "No way" and " Really" came from the classroom of the Art School. This happened on January 1st, 1949, when the copy painting of the murals of Kond_ in H_ry_-ji was in progress under the supervision of Professor Yasuda Yukihiko. The students should have the opportunity to see the murals themselves, so they felt quite disappointed.In the autumn of 1949, the ancient art research tour to Nara was restarted.What Hirayama Ikuo had originally seen was devastation, but Kyoto was full of llush growth of trees and grass and vitality in the tranquil atmosphere of the ancient capital.The first encounter with the ancient capital Nara left a deep impression on Hirayama.From time to time, he recalled the words of Grandpa Shimitsu, who died at the end of last year that "he should never forget to study the classics and learn from the Nature". Hirayama found this as his painting direction when he didn't know what he should paint.