maria kannon, worshipped in secret by japanese christians in kyushu, could conceal and reveal hearts at will.

from afar, she resembles any ordinary bodhisattva. but up close, any dim supplicant could see that she was, in truth, an image of virgin mary. like clare of assisi, she deals in the business of images, though her eyes are more slighting, and she holds her camera with a dogged hand, the same hand that took her from the land of the kabeiroi to new york city.