Second-generation A-bomb survivor and daughter of A-bomb physicist unite for anti-nuclear art exhibition
Nov. 12, 2012
by Sakiko Masuda, Staff Writer
Masaru Tanaka, 43, now living in the city of Yamagata, is a second-generation A-bomb survivor originally from Nishi Ward, Hiroshima. Betsie Miller-Kus, 67, a resident of the U.S. state of New Mexico, is a painter whose late father took part in the Manhattan Project, the effort that produced the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Beyond the framework of nations—one carrying out the A-bomb attacks and the other suffering the consequences—the two artists have expressed their view of peace in their own distinct ways. They now plan to hold a joint exhibition in Los Alamos, New Mexico in August 2013. By displaying their artwork, for the first time, at the place where the atomic bombs were developed, they hope to put forth an appeal for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Mr. Tanaka and Ms. Miller-Kus formed a friendship when they met at an art exhibition in the United States in 1998. Over photographs taken by Mr. Tanaka, Ms. Miller-Kus applies acrylic paint. Employing this method, they began creating art together and have held exhibitions of their work in Japan, the United States, and other nations between 1999 and 2009.
With the theme “Peace Message from Hiroshima and Fukushima,” their exhibition in Los Alamos will be held next August, with the run of the exhibition—August 5 to 10—coinciding with the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Mr. Tanaka moved to the city of Yamagata at the end of February 2011 to pursue peace studies through art at Tohoku University of Art and Design. Soon after moving to Yamagata, the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) nuclear power plant occurred in Fukushima Prefecture, adjacent to Yamagata Prefecture. This past October, Mr. Tanaka visited Fukushima to hear the voices of the sufferers firsthand. He then photographed women who have been living with fears of radiation and apricot trees that had to be cut down because they had absorbed radioactive substances, among other scenes.
In his hometown of Hiroshima, Mr. Tanaka also took photographs of A-bomb survivor Shoso Kawamoto, 78, a resident of Nishi Ward. Mr. Kawamoto has been distributing paper airplanes with a crane on each one to children who visit Hiroshima on peace study tours. Ms. Miller-Kus will then apply paint to Mr. Tanaka’s images to complete the works of art.
Paper airplanes folded by Mr. Kawamoto will be displayed at the exhibition after messages are added from sufferers in Fukushima. “In Los Alamos, which served as the starting point for the development of nuclear weapons,” Mr. Tanaka said, “I would like to convey our wish to the American people that there be no more damage caused by radiation, as well as our hopes for peace.”
Mr. Tanaka’s father experienced the Hiroshima bombing in present-day Koinishi-machi, Nishi Ward. Ms. Miller-Kus’s late father worked as a physicist for the Manhattan Project.
(Originally published on November 5, 2012)
Masaru Tanaka, 43, now living in the city of Yamagata, is a second-generation A-bomb survivor originally from Nishi Ward, Hiroshima. Betsie Miller-Kus, 67, a resident of the U.S. state of New Mexico, is a painter whose late father took part in the Manhattan Project, the effort that produced the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Beyond the framework of nations—one carrying out the A-bomb attacks and the other suffering the consequences—the two artists have expressed their view of peace in their own distinct ways. They now plan to hold a joint exhibition in Los Alamos, New Mexico in August 2013. By displaying their artwork, for the first time, at the place where the atomic bombs were developed, they hope to put forth an appeal for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Mr. Tanaka and Ms. Miller-Kus formed a friendship when they met at an art exhibition in the United States in 1998. Over photographs taken by Mr. Tanaka, Ms. Miller-Kus applies acrylic paint. Employing this method, they began creating art together and have held exhibitions of their work in Japan, the United States, and other nations between 1999 and 2009.
With the theme “Peace Message from Hiroshima and Fukushima,” their exhibition in Los Alamos will be held next August, with the run of the exhibition—August 5 to 10—coinciding with the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Mr. Tanaka moved to the city of Yamagata at the end of February 2011 to pursue peace studies through art at Tohoku University of Art and Design. Soon after moving to Yamagata, the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) nuclear power plant occurred in Fukushima Prefecture, adjacent to Yamagata Prefecture. This past October, Mr. Tanaka visited Fukushima to hear the voices of the sufferers firsthand. He then photographed women who have been living with fears of radiation and apricot trees that had to be cut down because they had absorbed radioactive substances, among other scenes.
In his hometown of Hiroshima, Mr. Tanaka also took photographs of A-bomb survivor Shoso Kawamoto, 78, a resident of Nishi Ward. Mr. Kawamoto has been distributing paper airplanes with a crane on each one to children who visit Hiroshima on peace study tours. Ms. Miller-Kus will then apply paint to Mr. Tanaka’s images to complete the works of art.
Paper airplanes folded by Mr. Kawamoto will be displayed at the exhibition after messages are added from sufferers in Fukushima. “In Los Alamos, which served as the starting point for the development of nuclear weapons,” Mr. Tanaka said, “I would like to convey our wish to the American people that there be no more damage caused by radiation, as well as our hopes for peace.”
Mr. Tanaka’s father experienced the Hiroshima bombing in present-day Koinishi-machi, Nishi Ward. Ms. Miller-Kus’s late father worked as a physicist for the Manhattan Project.
(Originally published on November 5, 2012)
