Popular Protest in Post War Japan: The Antiwar Art of Shikoku GorōMain MenuOverviewThis exhibit explores the vibrant grassroots artistic culture of Hiroshima, known as the atomic bombed city. From 1949 through the 1990s, local artist Shikoku Gorō advanced a bold and democratic vision for cultural life by bringing poetry to the streets & mobilizing visual arts to represent the vitality, beauty, and complexity of Hiroshima. The exhibit explores a set of influential books, along with other examples of socially committed art. Shikoku and his circles of collaborators illuminated pathways to civic engagement for the citizens of Hiroshima—hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors), vets, & younger generations.Atom Bomb Poetry CollectionThe Angry JizoHiroshima SketchesGlossaryResourcesAcknowledgmentsAnn Sherif99c9850c7ffbc663daa16feec7b9f1dd71ca3e2e
Angry Jizo
1media/angry_jizo_book_thumb.jpg2020-08-03T21:04:49+00:00Max Mitchell5fec7a6574d32fe574c01ba927cd57c749ceca6991Large hardcover format of Angry Jizo, suitable for family or group reading.plain2020-08-03T21:04:49+00:00Kin no HoshishaphotographFBMD01000a8d01000093e2010027f10300a9100400aa2504001bd00400ecf107001c7308006dc708000e100900d5041000Max Mitchell5fec7a6574d32fe574c01ba927cd57c749ceca69
This page is referenced by:
12020-05-26T15:13:55+00:00Peace Education & Story Telling6plain2020-08-03T21:08:50+00:00Since its publication in 1979, Angry Jizo has been a favorite for public readings and performances. Indeed, Yamaguchi Yuko imagined that the story would be most accessible and compelling when read out loud. Even when Angry Jizo was still in manuscript form, Yamaguchi found its first audience in a classroom. She loaned the hand written text to a school teacher friend, who read it aloud to her students. The picture book Angry Jizo that emerged from the Yamaguchi-Shikoku-Numata collaboration leant itself perfectly to being read aloud to a group. The large rectangular format of the book and the striking and straightforward images that dominate the page make it easy for audiences to see and understand.
Here, actress Kiuchi Midori does a public reading of Angry Jizo in Hiroshima with Shikoku’s illustrations on the large screen. As the audience of adults in this video demonstrates, Angry Jizo had the capacity to reach both young audiences and adults. Kiuchi’s dramatic rendering of the story here was tailored toward an adult audience. If there were children or young students in the audience, the reader would adjust the reading to make the story less frightening. From the 1970s, Angry Jizo was often read at antiwar and antinuclear protest rallies, such as this 1982 mass gathering with huge illustrations by Shikoku and reading by Numata.