In this research poster on the Tokugawa Shogunate, the focus of the period is Sekoku, or Isolationism during Feudal Japan and the subsequent fall of the Samurai. In the upper portion beyond the rising sun, each column is composed of 15 words - the standard structure of Haiku, Japanese poetry.

 

This resonates the cultural preservation that the Samurai were desperate to fight for, where after the dawn of the new order during the Meiji Restoration, the structure is broken and resembles standard English now. Translations of Japanese are ghost words, while the wax seals provide credentials.

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Finally, although each column covers large swathes of history, the final ride to meet their Daimyo, or Lord; is the final battle where all Samurai remaining in Japan would be purged. Thus, the "letters" showcased against parchment and cherry blossoms end abruptly, with no more Samurai to write them.