Yomiuri Newspaper Evening Edition
Friday, November 6th, 1992
Outcry for Peace from his Soul
Circulating Painting Exhibition of Experiences As a Prisoner of War in Siberia
Mr. Yoshida in Nara Drew his Experience of Hell
I saw a young man staring fixedly, eyes gleaming sharply in the snow storm. There was an older gentleman who shed tears over the fortunes of people who exhaled their last breath in the freezing land and became corpses. The circulating exhibition of paintings depicting his experiences as a prisoner of war in Siberia by Isamu Yoshida (68) an amateur painter from Suita city, took place in Russia for the first time. The "outcry from his soul" expressed all over the surface of his pictures addresses the ugliness of a war, and it delivered a message of peace to Russian citizens who live in a city that is undergoing turbulent and chaotic changes in its society. This article is by Kazuyasu Nishijima, a city news reporter. The photos were also taken by him.
"I Bow Down My Head to Their Humility," said Mr. Yoshida
Mr. Yoshida made the following remarks at the exhibition. "I was wondering if my paintings might cause discomfort in Russians, but I have the impression that they accept the facts more than I imagined. Some people begin a discussion in front of a painting, and there are children who earnestly ask questions about life as a prisoner and about the painting itself. I actually received many more responses in this exhibition than in the ones I had in Japan. If the Japaense were shown something revealing their own sin right in front of them, I wonder if they could be as humble as these Russians. It really makes me appreciate the depth and the breadth of the Russian heart. There is no longer any winner or loser. We are both on the same page, having to make efforts together to pursue peace in our time, I was really convinced."
The first exhibition took place in Vladivostok, the military port that finally allowed, at the beginning of this year, foreigners to visit. The venue was the first floor of the Martime Province Goverenment Facilities, the so called "white house" which used to be the Far East main headquarters for the old Communist party. It began on the 9th of last month and will continue for a month.
The works displayed in the exhibition are approximately two hundred in number, showing the devastating environment inside the prison camps: carrying water in feezing cold weather, heavy labor such as wood chopping, brothers who fall and die without fulfilling their dreams to go home, prisoners who carefully watch how scarce food is divided. There are many pieces that condemn mistreatment and pillage by the Russian soldiers.
"These are the things Russians would prefer to ignore. However, we have to stare at these facts in order to build a new country." Zoya Morgan (45), an expert in the history of the Far East, said as she read the description of each picture very carefully, "Magazines and newspapers finally began to write about the Japanese prisoners' camps after the Perestoroika."
There were people who looked for Mr. Yoshida, saying, "He has shown us meaningful pictures. I would like to thank him." Or there was a woman in red eyes, " I sincerely apologize to you for the wrong behavior of Russian soldiers."
Ludmila Purukina (44), a member of the Labor Unions said, " In the district I grew up, there was a Nazi concentration camp. However, I had no idea about such camps for the Japanese. I feel like crying in anger against the war." Then she wanted to shake hands with me.
There was a group of ten and more children who came from the art school where they belong. They viewed the paintings sighing or showing astonishment by putting their hands on their mouths. Gina Sosnova (12) said with a serious expression, "I cannot believe such an awful thing happend in our own country! These paintings make us fully realize the folly of humans fighting against each other. I learned a lot from the rich expressiveness of these paintings."
Day after day, there are lines of visitors at the exhibition. Veronika Barabas (23), a writer for the youth newspaper, "The Pacific," commented, "Our city is far from Moscow. Also because of the backlash against a long isolation from foreign contact, now there are many foreign events taking place everywhere. Festivals of Plays, Jazz and many more."
After interviewing Mr. Yoshida, she added, "I was truly moved to find that Mr. Yoshida now has no negative feelings toward Russia in spite of such a difficult experience. To learn what a war is, it is very important to understand where the other side is coming from. I really want to make an effort to encourage a lot of young people to come to this exhibition."
Notebook of Remarks by the Visitors
"The Prisoners' Camp is a Shame / Japanese Soldiers Were Also Brutal"
At the entrance/exit of the venue, a notebook for free remarks was prepared, and the visitors left their comments. These are the excerpts from their writings.
"The Russians in Siberia were very poor in those days. However, I could not help sharing my bread when I saw a Japanese soldier who was reduced to a skeleton. One of them gave me a harmonica as a sign of appreciation. There are good people and bad people in any country." (by an elderly woman)
"I heard about the prisoners' camps from my father. I know where they used to be, so I will act as a guide if people come from Japan to visit the graveyards." (by a man who left his home phone number)
"I had no idea about the prisoners' camps. It is the most embarassing part in our history. I learned something very important. Thank you very much, Mr. Yoshida!" (by a female 4th-grade student in an art school)
"When the Japanese army came to Siberia around 1920, Japanese soldiers cut off many Russians' heads and took pictures of themselves standing in front of those. I also remember the scar of the knife made by a Japanese soldiers on my father's back. After this exhibition, we should also hold an event to clarify the behaviors of Japanese soldiers back then. Information should not be one-sided. We need to pray for peace for both countries." (by an elderly gentleman wearing a suit)
Deepened Exchange
Map of Graveyards and the Exhibition
Khabarovsk, where the exhibition will be held beginning on the 18th, is city where the Soviet Far East Military Headquarters that was in charge of the administration of the prisoners' camps. Yuri Nikichenko (56), a local assembly member,investigated on the Japanese graveyard sites in the state of Khabarovsk and neighboring areas this year, and published a map.He said, "We cannot change a sad history any more, so I thought about how we can mourn for the victims."
Based on material in the Ministry of Home Affairs, his staff took two years collecting evidence from residents near the former camps. They confirmed that there were graveyards that had one hundred, or up to seven hundred corpses. There were 8,250 bodies buried in the total of eighty different sites, they discovered. They worked with Japan's Health and Welfare Ministry and groups of former detainees in Siberia, and erected tombsones in fifteen sites.
The map is forty-centimeters square and has thirty pages. "Some graveyards were washed away by a flood, or farms and buildings were created on top of them, so it may be difficult to find exactly where this map indicates sites. Nevertheless, our goodwill will be understood by the families of victims and the people who want to visit the graves, I believe. If this effort becomes the seed for any friendship between our countries, it will be our pleasure," said Mr. Nikichenko passionately.
Indeed, I got the impression myself that the Russians in the area have the common understanding that, in order to develop a good international relationship between Japan and Russia, they cannot avoid the facts of the prisoners' camps.
Alexander Vkarnikov (50), the chair of the Commitee of Arts in the state of Khabarovsk, remarked, "The historical facts from the era of Stalin such as prisoners' camp are no longer secrets or anything. It is very important for both countries to evaluate the history from the beginning in order to deepen our exchange."
The mayor of the Martime Province, Vladimir Kuznetsov, stressed, "This exhibition helps both nations understand each other and deepen our friendship. I would like to evaluate its meaning, remembering the background to a change of international politics, the end of the cold war.
