Title: IX Yaizu (ninth of the series, Hiroshima Panels)
Creator: Maruki Iri, Maruki Toshi
Date: 1955
Period: Post-WWII US Occupation of Japan
Location: Tokyo
Culture: Japanese
Material: Sumi ink, pigment, glue, charcoal or conté on paper
Dimensions: 180 x 720 cm
Repository: Maruki Gallery, https://marukigallery.jp/en/hiroshimapanels/
Description: “Yaizu” is the portrayal of a third nuclear disaster befalling the Japanese at the hands of the Americans. During the cold war, the US was testing a hydrogen bomb on the Micronesian bikini atoll in the pacific ocean. Unintentionally, the bomb exploded in the midst of Japanese fishermen and the native Micronesian’s. Pictured is a fishing vessel from the port of Yaizu in Japan, showered with nuclear fallout. Crew members on the craft perished within months as they succumbed to the intense thermal and nuclear ailments. As the right is dominated by the fishing vessel, ascending into the skies, painted with a peaceful light grey and white, individual people occupy the left. “Yaizu” differs from the approach of the other panels in this exhibit as it portrays every individual as opposed to a pile of skulls and bodies that blur from one to the other. In this way, “Yaizu” depicts the humanity of each individual, with their own faces, clothes, and posture.
