Mayumi Oda, known to many as the “Matisse of Japan,” has exhibited over 50 one-woman shows throughout the world. Her artwork is part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Yale University Art Gallery; the Library of Congress; and many others. She has authored books about her own creative life, including Sarasvati’s Gift, Goddesses, and I Opened the Gate, Laughing: An Inner Journey. She has also illustrated several books for notable authors, including the esteemed Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh and Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty (New Village Press, 2024) by Anne Herbert and Margaret Paloma Pavel. In addition to her work as an artist, Oda has spent many years of her life as a global activist participating in anti-nuclear campaigns worldwide.

New Village Press is proud to publish the 20th anniversary edition of I Opened the Gate, Laughing: An Inner Journey (New Village Press, 2024).