Destruction to Creation: The Maruki Panels
Blogger's note - I know you wanted me to use my own words, however I wanted to include the artist's description to properly portray the emotional impact of each mural panel.
The atomic bomb was a devastating event that changed the course of history. Its destructive power left a lasting impact on Japan, and Japanese artists felt compelled to respond to the loss, fear, and grief caused by this event.
At the forefront of the intersection of art and the atomic bomb was artists who experienced the devastation of the atomic bomb firsthand, those artists were Maruki, Iri and Maruki, Toshi. Iri had grown up in Hiroshima and traveled there with his wife, Toshi, three days after the bomb was dropped. They helped in the efforts to treat the injured and bury or cremate the dead. What they saw deeply impacted them both, and that would be shown through their art. A few years later, Maruki, Iri and Maruki, Toshi created several murals depicting the aftermath of the bombing (Eubanks, 2009).
Figure 1. Ghosts I, 1950, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink and charcoal are used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). The panels convey a mass of people barely clothed or naked. A majority of the people look burned and charred. The group of people form a disheveled line moving from left to right, ending with a stumbled group of individuals who seemed to have collapsed from pain and confusion. This artwork, to me, feels like hopeless, and is difficult to look at.
Artist's description:
"It was a procession of ghosts. Clothes burned in an instant. Hands, faces, breasts swelled; purple blisters soon burst and skin hung like rags. A procession of ghosts, with their hands held before them. Dragging their torn skin, they fell exhausted, piling onto one another, groaning, and dying." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 2. Fire II, 1950, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink, glue, pigment, and charcoal are used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). The artwork shows human beings, which are tangled in masses. The human bodies shown in the murals are naked and sporadically marked with blood or flames. It's a chaotic scene marked with bold colors of red and black, conjuring feelings of despair and shock. This panel is often compared to hell-scape artwork, and it's easy to see why.
Artist's description:
"A strong blue-white flash. The explosion, the pressure, the firestorm—never on earth or in heaven had humankind experienced such a blast. Flames burst out in the next instant and leapt skyward. Breaking the stillness over the boundless ruins, the fire roared.
Some lay unconscious, pinned by fallen beams. Others, regaining their senses, tried to free themselves, only to be enveloped by the crimson blaze.
Glass shards pierced bellies, arms were twisted, legs buckled, people fell and were burned alive.
Hugging her child, a woman fought to free herself from beneath a fallen post.
'Hurry! Hurry!' someone shouted. 'It’s too late.' 'Then hand us the child' 'No, you run. I will die with my child. She would only be left to wander the streets.'
The woman pushed away the helping hands and was consumed by flames." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 3. Water III, 1950, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink and charcoal are used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). It's hard to determine which way the panel is supposed to be looked at, from left to right or right to left. Most Japanese text is read from right to left. My attention goes left first to the more condensed colors of black. If I didn't know the description from the artist, I would say there was a mound of corpses, that veers right towards those looking for water, to then possibly bodies being carried off by water. I like the use of charcoal; I think it's very appropriate for this context of art. And just like the other panels, it's hard to look at. This feels sad and upsetting, and apocalyptic.
Artist's description:
"There were mountains of corpses, piled with heads at the center of the mound. They were stacked so their eyes, mouths, and noses could be seen as little as possible.
In one yet uncremated mound, a man’s eyeball moved and stared. Was he still alive? Or had a maggot moved his dead eye?
Water! Water! People wandered about, searching for water. Fleeing the flames, crying for water to wet their dying lips." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 4. Rainbow IV, 1951, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: The media used for these panels are Sumi ink, glue, pigment, and charcoal (Maruki, 1999). These panels! Feels much darker, and I love the blue. The artists described the situation that inspired him to create this panel as a chaotic scene adorned with a seven colored rainbow. However, the rainbow is almost unseen, and it is a very dark. This panel feels very somber and gives a sense of silence. It looks as soundless as a graveyard at night.
Artist's description:
"There was no sound, just dead silence. Then a crazed soldier pointed to the sky and shouted over and over, 'An airplane! A B-29!' There was not a shadow of an airplane to be seen. Injured horses, frenzied horses ran amuck.
The smoke and dust blown high into the air formed a cloud, and soon large raindrops poured down from the otherwise clear sky. A rainbow arched across this blackened dome. The seven-colored rainbow shone with brilliance." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 5. Boys and Girls V, 1951, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink and charcoal are used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). The artist used charcoal to emphasize the darkness of this scene. Like some of Maruki's other panels this reminds me of an apocalyptic scene. There are bodies scattered, and only a few cling to life. The river is so black, it almost seems undrinkable, a river made for the grim reaper.
Artist's description:
"They lay dead in heaps along the riverbank, their heads pointing toward the water they had been seeking. Having reached the river, the water remained out of reach below the steep bank, and they died with their thirst unquenched.
Schoolchildren had been mobilized to help build firebreaks. Many classes were entirely annihilated. Two sisters held each other’s transformed figures. Other young girls died without a scratch on their bodies." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 6. Atomic Desert VI, 1952, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: The mediums used for these panels are sumi ink and charcoal (Maruki, 1999). The artist describes the smell of death in the air, and he manifested that in these panels. More than half of these panels are draped in darkness giving a visual to the smell and covering most of the human figures. This smog of charcoal enveloping the piece lets the observer experience the heaviness of the atmosphere portrayed.
Artist's description:
"Nothing to eat, no medicine. No shelter from the falling rain. No electricity, no newspapers, no radio, no doctors. Maggots bred on corpses and the wounded, clouds of flies swarmed and buzzed. The smell of corpses hung on the wind." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 7. Bamboo Grove VII, 1954, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink and charcoal are used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). The artist gathered images from his own experience, and this one is a heartbreaking one. Just like a deer in the forest, finding a peaceful place to rest its head and die. This is what is happening here, the people, injured beyond help, are finding a quiet place to die. Maruki seems to present structures, or the surrounding natural environment as notably dark. Most likely, that's how it looked, the area being seared by fire, but I believe it was purposeful to express the great darkness of this tragedy.
Artist's description:
"They talked on about that moment. There were many bamboo groves on the outskirts of Hiroshima, and the atomic bomb seared the bamboo on one side. The homeless took shelter in the groves. And one by one they breathed their last." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 8. Relief VIII, 1954, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink, glue, pigment, and charcoal are used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). Maruki does convey a sense of relief. Maruki shows on one side the injured and dying surrounded by orange red colors, fire, and one the other side, it is clear of any flames. They are being carried to freedom, but not unscathed. Another symbol of relief is on the side of the injured, nobody is clothed, and on the relief side the rescuers are clothed, even the rescued on the gurney.
Artist's description:
"The fires burned and burned.
People from the countryside came to search for relatives and carried them out of the city. Many died along the way.
Long lines formed to receive rations. A girl died nearby, still clutching her portion of hardtack.
Glass shards were embedded throughout the bodies of the parents of our sister’s husband. Their ankles swelled as large as their thighs. They had taken refuge in our home, and we decided to take them to their eldest son. We placed them on a cart and pulled it all the way to Kaita, passing through the center of the blast. A gentle rain was falling." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 9. Yaizu VX, 1955, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: The Artist used for these panels are Sumi ink, glue, pigment, and charcoal (Maruki, 1999). This mural reminds me of a scene on Battle Star Galactica, when one of the characters is dying, she sees her family, that had died, on the other side of a body of water waiting to welcome her. Maruki wanted to impress upon the world that the nuclear bomb destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it kept killing even after that horrible event. The Bikini atoll was a site for nuclear testing where America used the island and animals to test their weapons. One of the tests bombarded a Japanese fishing vessel, killing a fisherman. Then the natives of Bikini atoll retuned, unaware of the repercussions of radiation and many died later of cancer (Maruki, 1999). The artist made the fishing vessel look like a levitating ghost ship by blurring the image and creating a light contrast from the background.
Artist's description:
"In 1954, a hydrogen bomb exploded on Bikini atoll. The crew of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, a fishing boat from the port of Yaizu, was showered with the ashes of death. Six months later, Kuboyama Aikichi died. Three times the Japanese have fallen victim to nuclear weapons." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 10. Petition X, 1955, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink, glue, pigment, and charcoal are used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). This panel makes me feel a little bit claustrophobic. The artist creates a sense of a crowd by using dark colors, muffled by black. I believe he wanted to show there was a massive consensus among the people of Japan that were against the war and wanted to surrender, and ironically that's who we bombed, civilians. He also wanted to express the diverseness of the people who wanted to surrender by emphasizing individuals, such as a doctor, woman, child, wealthy and poor people.
Artist's description:
"'Stop the atomic bomb! Stop the hydrogen bomb! Stop war!'
The appeal of mothers in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward spread throughout Japan. Children, mothers, fathers, elders, and workers of all kinds signed the petition.
For the first time, a voice was given to the people’s muffled cry, and millions signed the petition for peace." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 11. Mother and Child XI, 1959, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink, glue, pigment, and charcoal are used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). The artist did not want the world to forget that this was not an attack on their military, but an attack on civilians, women and children alike. There are two distinct areas, with human figures, mostly women and children piled or grouped together. Near the center is a woman with her child in her arms engulfed in flames, this figure is one of the clearest images of the panel. She almost reminds me of a Madonna painting.
Artist's description:
"Parents were forced to abandon children pinned under fallen houses, children abandoned parents, husbands abandoned wives and wives husbands, all in frantic flight from the blaze. This was reality at the time of the atomic bomb." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 12. Floating Lanterns XII, 1968, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink, glue, pigment, and charcoal are the mediums used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). This panel was created to portray the lantern lighting event after the bombs. I think it's supposed to be sorrowful, but at the same time shows resilience. The artist uses cube shapes to represent the lanterns. one side the cubes are dark and there are images of dead bodies and death, and on the other side the cubes are bright with colors, no death in sight.
Artist's description:
"On August 6, the seven rivers of Hiroshima fill with floating lanterns, inscribed with the names of fathers, mothers, sisters.
The tide shifts before the lanterns reach the sea, and they are swept back to the city by the swell. Extinguished now, the mass of crumpled lanterns drifts in the dark currents of the river.
On that day in the past, these same rivers flowed dense with corpses." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 13. Death of the American Prisoners of War XIII, 1971, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: The medium used for these panels are sumi ink (Maruki, 1999). This panel is interesting. There are smoke-like blotches surrounding a few human figures. I think there are skulls in those blotches. There is visibly a women bound with her arms behind her, representing the American prisoners of war. I think there's empathy in this panel, but it could be the artist wanted to let the US to know, because of their seemingly unempathetic actions, they not only killed Japanese civilians, but their own people.
Artist's description:
"Some three hundred thousand Japanese died from the atomic bombs you dropped. But your atomic bombs also killed twenty-three youths from your own country. Americans who had parachuted from B-29s on air raids before the bombing of Hiroshima were held there as prisoners of war. Some said there were also women POWs.
We wondered what they looked like when they died, what clothing, what shoes they wore.
We went to Hiroshima, and we were shocked at what we discovered. Since the American POWs were held in underground shelters near the center of the blast, they probably would have died before long. Or, just maybe, some might have lived. But before their fate could be known, Japanese slaughtered them, we learned.
We trembled as we painted the death of the American prisoners of war." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 14. Crows XIV, 1972, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink is used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). This panel is a chaotic cluster of crow-like figures bombarding barely visible bodies. This panel is very meaningful. Maruki was deeply cut by the inhumane and unempathetic actions of the American government but was also hurt by the actions of his people after the bombing. The Koreans that lived in Japan and died because of the bombing were the last to be buried or cremated, so the crows got to them before anything was done. At the time the Japanese treated the Koreans with prejudice, even in death.
Artist's description:
"Japanese and Koreans look alike. How could one mercilessly burned face be distinguished from another?
'After the bomb, the last corpses to be disposed of were the Koreans. Many Japanese survived the bomb, but very few Koreans did. There was nothing we could do. Crows came flying, many of them. The crows came and ate the eyeballs of the Korean corpses. They ate the eyeballs.' (From the writings of Ishimure Michiko.)
Koreans were discriminated against, even in death. Japanese discriminated, even against corpses. Both were Asian victims of the bomb.
Beautiful chima and chogori, fly back to Korea, to the sky over the homeland. We humbly offer this painting. We pray." (Maruki, I. 1999).
Figure 15. Nagasaki XV, 1982, Maruki, Iri, Toshi (180 × 720 cm)
Image description: Sumi ink, glue, pigment, and charcoal are used in these panels (Maruki, 1999). This panel is chaotic and takes some effort to find the figures in this piece. If I hadn't readd what the artist said about these panels, I'm not sure I would have caught the crucifix located in the lower middle of the artwork. The artist was from Hiroshima, and traveled there after the bombs, but still wanted to pay tribute to Nagasaki.
Artist's description:
"The target city of Kokura was covered by thick clouds, and the two B-29s flew on to the alternate target, the port of Nagasaki. Here too the visibility was poor, so the atomic bomb was dropped on the Mitsubishi steelworks on the edge of the city.
The bomb exploded directly above the Catholic cathedral in Urakami, killing the priests and those who had gathered there to worship. The dead were scattered in endless concentric circles, with the cathedral at the center.
The Nagasaki bomb was made from plutonium and was more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. One more atomic bomb. Nagasaki was devastated. One hundred forty thousand people died." (Maruki, I. 1999).
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