Asahi Newspaper Evening Edition
Monday, November 16, 1992
Paintings of Siberian Detainment Profoundly Shocked Russian Citizens
Japanese Painter's Ardent Wish Realized
Joint Research of Historical Facts Necessary
Written by Yohei Takeda
Lecturer, Center of International Research for Strategies for Peace at Tokai University
"I am really informed of the nature of the fascist-like regime of the old Soviet Union," said in disgust a college professor from Vladivostok who came to this exhibition with his family after he went around the floor once.
In the city of Vladivostok in Far East Russia, the "Siberian Detainment Painting Exhibition" was offered by a Japanese painter for a month, until the tenth of this month. The person who held the painting brush, hoping to rest the souls of his deceased comrads and to establish friendship between Japan and Russia, is Mr. Isamu Yoshia (68), an amateur painter who lives in the city of Yamatotakada in Nara prefecture. His paintings have been based on his own experiences of combat toward the end of World War II and on the experiences of terrible concentration camp living, that took him to various places in the Far East. When I received his invitation, he said in a thrilled voice, "This exhibition finally came true after two years of negotiation." When I attended the opening of the exhibition, what I encounted was serious expressions in the eyes of the Russians.
Mr. Yoshida, who is called a "painter of rageri," keeps on drawing those days of terror and calamity that he experienced between the time he was drafted in the fall of 1944, when he was twenty years old, and the time he finally received permission to go home in the summer, three years after the draft. Russian citizens stood in front of approximately a hundred eighty paintings and sketches that showed the way that Soviet aircraft made strafing runs over Japanese soldiers who were desperately trying to escape, a captive sneaking in to steal cattle fodder because of unbearable hunger, and comrades praying for the deaths of brothers-in-arms in a field of snow etc. These works must have had a strong impact to the Russians as they were shown a cross-section of the modern history of their own country that has been regarded as taboo.
Vladivostok, a place well-known to Japanese, has denied the entry of foreigners for a long time due to its role as a military port. Their reason why this unusual painting exhibitions became possible is solely because of Perestroika. For me, this occasion was a revisitation to the city after a year and two months, but I was surprised at the speed of democratization, since it was taking place much more quickly than I had expected. It was quite amazing to see public posters by Greenpeace, the international environmental protection organization, addressing the dumping of nuclear waste at sea. Nevertheless, I was not quite sure if the citizens were ready to spend their time with the "glasnost-disclosure of official information" of the inhumane acts that Stalin forcefully conducted.
To my surprise, after it began, I was astonished at the exhibition's level of impact. An extensive coverage by national TV and the local newspapers really helped, and the gallery, the first floor of the former Communist Party headquarters, became busier and busier with more people coming to the exhibition. It struck me when I heard a child at first commenting, "why didn't they escape?" and eventually said, "I cannot imagine how somone could pull out his own gold tooth just to get a piece of bread!" and sobbed.
"I really wanted the young people to see these because they are the ones who will be in charge of our future, " said Mr. Yoshida with a look of content. Before he went to the war, his wish was to become a painter; however, it was cut off. Nevertheless, he decided to paint again because he thought it was important to show the cruelty of war and the preciousness of peace to children who do not know what war is. Then he began to collect fading memories together in order to paint. As a result, he was able to start a small exhibition at a corner of the movie theater he was running in Gojo city in Nara at that time, around 1980. The exhibition then developed into a larger scale as it went to Kobe, Kyoto and Nara in the Kinki region of Japan. Mr. Yoshida confirmed the solid acceptance by the public and then began to think about taking his paintings beyond the national border with his wish for the peace he implied in his pictures. Fortunately, after hearing his wish, Russians created both public and private international support system. It probably has a lot to do with the experiences of some local people who "remembered the Japanese detainees coming back from their work place with tired and heaby steps" and were sympathetic toward them at that time.
Whereas most of the people were compassionate toward the exhibition, it is a fact that there were some negative opinions as well. One older gentleman who said had a ever lasting memory of the scar on his father's shoulder, which was made by a Japanese soldier during Japanese-Russo war in Siberia, showed his anger saying, "This is such a one-sided view." There was also a female history researcher who raised questions if those pictures were distorted quite a bit. Her opinion was based on her experience of viewing a picture diary written by so called Japanese "actives" ( aggressive supporter of the government of Soviet Union). In the diary, wonderful dinner table with even Chinese food was drawn. Mr. Yoshida, bearly lived with water like borscht and a small piece of black bread, lost his words when he heard it. These incidents made me realize the keen necessity of a joint research by Japan and Russia in this field because more and more materials formerly owned by different institutes are now publicized one after another. Such research will be vital for the correct assessment of the historical facts.
Be that as it may, this exhibition was truly significant: a high-spirited private individual, wishing to work toward "war's end and peace," was able to warm the hearts of people in a neighboring country that seemed to have been so far off until now, and has realized his dream. While the relationship between the two countries is not certain in regards to problem of the Northern Territories, this exhibition is so meaningful. As it goes on to Kharovsk on the 18th of this month, I truly wish for this Siberian exhibition to become the priming water for the new era for Japan and Russia.
