Intrinsically, natural phenomena are devoid of a particularly set form or shape. Through their love of nature, however, the ancient Japanese developed the ability to express these movements of energy in both form and color. For example, thunder was personified, and used as the subject of both paintings and stories. While this can be considered as being related to the ancient Japanese religious beliefs, it is important to note that throughout history, there have been few cases indeed, where such images were actually transformed into, and passed down as decorative patterns and designs. The painting at the bottom is a well-known work by Korin, a famous artist during the Edo period. It depicts the god of thunder and the god of the wind. The picture below is a metal grill using a thunder motif.
