Yomiuri Newspaper
October 10th, 1992
Siberian Detainment Painting Exhibition Opens
by Kazuyasu Nishijima on 9th in Vladivostok
Mr. Isamu Yoshida's painting exhibition circulating in Russia opened on the 1st floor hall of the government office of the department of the Martime Region in the city of Vladivostok. Mr. Yoshida is an amateur painter residing in the city of Yamato Takadain, Nara prefecture, who has been drawing his experiences as a prisoner of war in Siberia. This the first of the circulating series. The citizens of Vladivostok who came to view the paintings were deeply touched by the images of the detainees who were forced into difficult labor, risking their lives in a cruelly cold place far away from their homeland. One after another, voices wre raised among them, making vows for peace and against war.
The work includes a piece entitled, "Illusion," which shows the way a detainee sees the illusion of miso soup and sushi in freezing cold weather, and "Dividing of the food," in which men with intense looks watch how a piece of bread is divided equally on a scale; there are other works, totaling almost two hundred paintings in all.
For the opening ceremony, about a hundred and fifty interested persons gathered. After Mr. Yoshida stated, "I would like one more individual to feel the absurdity of war," a ribbon-cutting took place. After that, guest speakers offered remarks. Japan's former prime minister, Sosuke Uno, spoke first, referring to his own experience as a Siberian detainee. He said, "Through these paintings, I wish to establish eternal friendship between Japan and Russia." Vladimir Kuznetsov, mayor of the city, said, " This exhibition is extremely significant as a means of deepening a friendship between two nations, I am convinced."
In Vladivostok, there were many citizens who did not know anything about the bitter history of relations between the two countries. They said," I feel like crying with anger and terror at war!" or "Here, we were informed of the facts we certainly need to pay attention to in order to build a future friendship with Japan."
This exhibition will be moved to Khabarovsk on Nov. 18th, and then to Komsomolsk-on-Amur at the end of December and will continue until the middle of January next year.
