Beauty and Justice: Creating a Life of Abundance and Courage
By Haejin Shim Fujimura and Makoto Fujimura
Brazos Press, 160 pages
Published April 7, 2026
Beauty and Justice leans into the prophet’s commission to deliver good news to the oppressed – the reading from Isaiah 61 about which Jesus declares in Luke, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” – alongside the ritualized and ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi. In this art form, broken vessels are intentionally repaired with lacquer and gold, adding to their beauty and value. In describing the healing of injustices, the authors – Haejin Fujimura, a lawyer, and Mako Fujimura, an artist – develop a framework they call “Kintsugi-Peace Making,” in which beauty and justice emerge from fracture and conflict, aligned with God’s promised new creation.
Beauty within God’s already-and-not-yet new creation both sustains justice work and propels it forward. Beauty, in its many forms, offers glimpses of what could be, drawing us into God’s invitation to become co-creators in a renewed world marked by shalom, mishpat (justice), and tsedaqah (justice). “Kintsugi is a powerful metaphor for mishpat and tsedaqah,” they write, “as we seek beauty through the brokenness, not just addressing the problem but creating new opportunities for flourishing. The fragments of what has been broken through injustice are held together, bound together, and made more beautiful and valuable — a new creation.”
The spouses’ shared imagination invites readers to consider how beauty and justice might be interwoven in their own lives.
Mako’s reflections on his artistic process illuminate the intentionality behind the layers and stages of his creative work and how it is shaped by faith. Likewise, readers are invited into the integration of Haejin’s faith and her justice work, particularly through the creation of Estuary, a symbiotic space that combines legal advocacy, justice initiatives, and gallery spaces. The spouses’ shared imagination invites readers to consider how beauty and justice might be interwoven in their own lives. While a few images of artwork appear toward the end, additional photographs of the beauty referenced would have provided an extra spark.
The book is structured around five principles introduced at the outset: genesis moments, grit, generosity, gratitude and generational stewardship. The first half of the book is especially strong — cohesive, theologically thoughtful, while not overly academic, and prophetic. The latter chapters feel less unified, at times reading as a collection of reflections, which is particularly unfortunate given that three of the five principles are meant to be expanded upon in these chapters. Some of Mako Fujimura’s reflections on artistic experience would benefit from deeper historical context, and a few mission stories shared by Haejin Fujimura’s may be susceptible to a paternalistic reading.
Despite this unevenness in the second half, Beauty and Justice offers substantive and generative insights, as well as a roadmap to hope in an oppressive world — if we are willing to watch for the landmarks of beauty along the way. This book will be especially meaningful for preachers and justice advocates seeking renewal, as well as for churches that partner with artists or hope to do so. It could provide a thoughtful group study (with leader-written discussion questions) or a resource for an art-centered, justice-focused retreat.
Ultimately, Beauty and Justice succeeds in casting a compelling vision of the world promised when shalom is fully realized — a world in which injustice is not merely addressed but wholly repaired.
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