Popular Protest in Post War Japan: The Antiwar Art of Shikoku Gorō

Why?

With Tōge’s poem “Why?” Shikoku created a striking multi-media poster that included sketch, painting, and collage with newspaper clippings in order to evoke a young woman in the unsettling surrounding of a bombed city. The speaker of the poem describes her as a pan pan (sex worker for Allied Occupation GIs), but rather than condemning her, the speaker claims solidarity: “I too am a pan pan.” Shikoku situates the figure and tumultuous cityscape swept up in broader political discourses by creating a collage of newspaper clippings that show powerful Japanese politicians in Tokyo, and snatches of headlines that would resonate powerfully with contemporary viewers “Fired” [for political beliefs]; “Conservative politicians;” and “Labor Movement Supports Workers.” Though the Our Poems Circle members strove to create posters accessible to a broad audience, they did not underestimate citizens’ ability to engage with works with complex messages and innovative technique.

Although Shikoku insisted that impromptu work with Tōge resulted in the most effective street posters, it is important to recognize that their work, no matter how spontaneous it appeared, was grounded in established theories and methods of art. Drawing on his experiences in the Soviet internment camps from 1945-48, Shikoku published articles in the Our Poems’ journal about art as method for social engagement and democratization of art. He explained how to write poems suitable for reading aloud at street protests (“avoid overly complicated rhythms” “appeal to the heart more than to the mind”); best practice for chanting at protest marches; and a “how to” for tsuji-shi (street poems). Shikoku urged the circle to “appeal to the people (minshu) directly with poems and pictures, rather than distracting them with [elite] notions of literature and art.”

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