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
Tōge Sankichi, Dedications
1media/toge-dedications-poem_thumb.jpg2020-06-10T21:35:29+00:00Max Mitchell5fec7a6574d32fe574c01ba927cd57c749ceca6992“Dedications” in Atom Bomb Poetry Collection, Hiroshima, 1951.plain2020-06-14T22:17:04+00:001951The Association for Preservation of Literary Materials of HiroshimaphotographMax Mitchell5fec7a6574d32fe574c01ba927cd57c749ceca69
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12020-05-26T15:13:17+00:00Dedication4plain2020-06-14T15:10:43+00:00Tōge dedicates the volume of poetry to “people who died in the August 6 1945 atomic bombing and those who continue to suffer the effects of radiation & other injury.” The Cold War context is evident in the Dedication’s inclusion of “people around the world who abhor the atom bomb.” Despite its modest appearance, the Japanese book anticipated an international context, noting that the publication coincided with the Third World Festival of Youth and Students held in East Berlin that year. The theme of the enormous festival, part of socialist sphere cultural diplomacy, was “Peace and Friendship against Nuclear Weapons” and “Youth United against a New War.” Tōge and his collaborators struck a delicate balance between earning the support of diverse fellow citizens and walking the line with U.S./Japanese authorities who carefully maintained the promise of democracy as part of maintaining legitimacy as the “Free World,” even with the threat of war and ideological battle with the Soviet Cold War enemy.
Because of Occupation surveillance, Shikoku and Tōge chose the most economical and discreet technology to produce the first edition of 500 copies. Gariban (mimeograph) prints directly from a handwritten text, as is evident on these pages (read right to left, top to bottom). Compare the hurried cursive handwriting by the poet Tōge on this page with the uniform block printing by another writer on the “Give me back father” poem.