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

Tōge’s Monument

In the center of the Hiroshima Peace Park, middle school students listen as their teacher reminds them of reading Tōge’s famous poem in school. The Monument Dedicated to Tōge Sankichi is inscribed with Tōge’s famous poem “Give me Back” in Japanese on the face and in English on the back. As part of peace education field trips, middle and high school students regularly visit the monument. Because the poem is all in phonetic hiragana script and the language simple, even young children are able to read the entire poem in the context of learning about the atom bomb.

Shikoku designed this monument for the 10th anniversary of Tōge’s death in 1963. In an effort to keep the memories of the bombing and nuclear issues alive, Shikoku made it a practice to sketch repeatedly iconic sites in Hiroshima such as this monument in the Peace Park and the nearby Atomic Bomb Dome, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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