Wang Xiqi “1946” Kobe Exhibition

　My name is Ikuro Anzai, and I am the representative of the executive committee of the Kobe exhibition of the paintings of Professor Wang Xiqi. I look forward to working with you.
　The International Peace Museum at Ritsumeikan University, of which I am the Honorary Life Director, was the first university in the world to establish a comprehensive peace museum in 1992. Ritsumeikan University also sent about 3,000 students to the battlefield during the war, and lost the lives of nearly 1,000 students. After the war, Ritsumeikan University deeply reflected on its wartime teaching and learning, and adopted “peace and democracy” as its teaching philosophy. The International Peace Museum is currently closed for renovation, so we are unable to invite you to visit, but when it reopens in September 2023, we would like to take the opportunity to welcome you.
　The International Peace Museum focuses not only on the “damage” caused to Japan during the Pacific War, when the entire country was turned into a battlefield, but also on the “harm” done to the Asian and Pacific countries that preceded the war. I have signed a cooperation agreement with the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall of the Japanese Army in China. I served as the General Coordinator of the International Network of Museums for Peace in 2018-2020, and successfully organized the 10th International Peace Museums Conference online in September 2020. The 10th International Peace Museum Conference was successfully held online in September 2020. In September 2020, we successfully held the 10th International Peace Museum Conference online. At the same time, we held the “Manga Pandemic Web Exhibition,” which received many submissions from Chinese manga enthusiasts. This was an example of how culture can transcend national borders.
　How gratifying it is to see Mr. Wang’s works exhibited around Japan, helping many Japanese (including young people) to understand the tragedy, cruelty, and inhumanity of war. I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the opportunity to have this exhibition. As the representative of the executive committee of the Kobe exhibition, I would like to thank you again from the bottom of my heart.
　The new coronavirus infection, which seems to have settled down in Japan, is now showing signs of a new epidemic around the world. I hope that everyone will take care of themselves and enjoy good health.
　

Ikuro Anzai (Honorary Life Director, International Peace Museum, Ritsumeikan University)

Ikuro Anzai Profile and Recent Activities

◎12/18 On Air “Green Communication from Kyoto” (Latest Radio Broadcast)
　
◎Hiroshima-Nagasaki-Bikinis-Fukushima Message Center
　
◎Fukushima Project and UNESCO Club Vienna “Global Citizen Award”
　

“ 1946″ Wang Xiqi (Professor, Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts) Kobe Exhibition Prospectus

　There are three main reasons for planning this exhibition in Kobe.
　First, Professor Wang Xiqi of the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, named after Lu Xun, one of China’s most famous national writers, has written a large work entitled “1946” that expresses his feelings for the victims of war and the socially vulnerable. I would like to hold an exhibition of this large work in the Hanshin area, where there are many Japanese and overseas Chinese people who have remained in China, with the hope of promoting friendship between Japan and China.
　The second reason is that we must not forget the history of Manchurian settlement and repatriation from the former Manchuria (northeastern China), and we also want to convey the reality of the damage and harm caused by war.
　Third, the year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. It was signed on September 29, 1972 between Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. We insisted on holding the Kobe exhibition in September. We must keep in mind that Japan and China will not fight again and that Japan and China will be friends forever, and we must also remember Premier Zhou Enlai’s words, “Never forget the former, but be a teacher of the latter.
　The following is a summary.
　After the end of World War II, about 1.55 million Japanese people in the former Manchuria (northeastern China) were in harsh and miserable conditions. Around May of the following year, the return to Japan finally began, and about 1.05 million people were repatriated to Japan over a period of three years from the port of Koro in Liaoning Province, China. Chinese history painter Wang Xiqi (61 years old as of December 2021), who saw a child holding a box of his mother’s bones in a collection of photographs of repatriates at the port of Huludao, overcame his own emotional conflict and said, “In war, the weak always suffer. They are also the victims of war. Based on his strong feeling that “they are also victims of war,” he depicted hundreds of exhausted refugees trying to board a repatriation ship of the U.S. military with his unique technique of combining oil and ink painting. The work is a large piece of art, measuring 3m in length by 20m in width, and as you walk through it, you will feel as if you were one of the refugees, and your heart will tighten. I can feel the artist’s strong desire for peace in this work. It is also a work of great artistic value.
　The paintings have been exhibited in Japan four times: in Minato Ward, Tokyo (Tokyo Bijutsu Club, September 28-October 5, 2017), Maizuru City, Kyoto (Maizuru Repatriation Memorial Museum, September 28-December 2, 2018), Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture (Miyagi Museum of Art, October 1-October 6, 2019), and Kochi City (Kochi City Cultural Plaza, November 28-December 5, 2021). The fifth event will be held in Kobe in 2022. After the fifth exhibition in Kobe in 2022, the large-scale work “1946” will return to China and be exhibited permanently at the Museum for Repatriation of the People of the Republic of China (tentative name), which is currently under construction.
　Now, of the approximately 1.55 million Japanese in the whole of Manchuria just before the end of the war, about 240,000 died. The Japanese in Manchukuo continued their escape on foot or with very few freight cars, and on the way they were attacked by the former Soviet army and local residents, resulting in many casualties. They were attacked by the former Soviet army and local residents, resulting in many deaths and injuries, as well as tragedies such as mass suicides. At the Japanese internment camp where they arrived, they had to endure a midwinter temperature of over 30 degrees below zero, and suffered many calamities such as starvation, freezing to death, and death from disease. Due to the death or separation of their parents, people called “Chinese orphans” or “Chinese women who remained in China” were born.
　After the restoration of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, the city of Amagasaki commissioned the “Cosmos Society” to hold Japanese language classes for the Japanese who remained in China and their families. This year’s exhibition was supported by the members of this group. Professor Shinichi Asano of Kobe University, who is a leading expert on the issue of Japanese people remaining in China and the representative sponsor of the Hyogo Association for the Support of Japanese Orphans Remaining in China, will provide materials for our website and advise us on the display of panels showing the whole picture of Manchurian settlement and Japanese people remaining in China. He will also advise us on the display of panels that show the whole picture of the Manchurian settlement and the Japanese who remained in China. In addition to the painting exhibition, we are planning various other activities.
　The year 2022 marks the 91st anniversary of the outbreak of the Manchurian Incident, the 76th anniversary of the start of Japanese repatriation, and above all, the 50th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. 2022 is the 91st anniversary of the Manchurian Incident, the 76th anniversary of the start of repatriation from Japan, and above all the 50th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. We believe that it is very significant to hold an exhibition of Ms. Wang’s works in the Hanshin area, where there are many people related to the Japanese who remained in China and overseas Chinese living.

　We sincerely hope that you will understand our purpose.

Thank you very much.

　Under the slogan of “Love & Peace & Humanism,” we will hold a painting exhibition in Kobe, a city with which China is very familiar, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Japan and China.

　Taking into consideration the past cases, the estimated cost for one exhibition is nearly 3 million yen.

(1) About 1.5 million yen for transportation and installation of the paintings
(2) About 300,000 yen for inviting Dr. Wang and external lectures
(3) About 300,000 yen for printing posters and advertisements.
(4) About 500,000 yen for venue rental
(5) Postage and miscellaneous expenses: approx. 300,000 yen

　We would also like to make admission to the museum free for students and younger.

　In order to make the Kobe exhibition a success, we would like to ask for your support. Your donations will be used with great care and consideration.

　Thank you once again for your support and cooperation. Please note that donations to this committee are not eligible for tax incentives.

Painter. Born in Jinzhou, China.

Worked at the oil painting department of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts. Member of the China Artists Association.

　He is highly regarded for his painting style, which naturally combines elements of Oriental ink painting with Western oil painting. He is particularly good at creating works with historical themes, and his unique style and original perspective have attracted attention both at home and abroad, and he is regarded as an independent artist who does not belong to any existing school. Among his major works are the national gold medal-winning “Battle of Red Cliffs” (joint work), “The Long March”, which was selected for China’s National Art Project for Major Historical Subjects, “Liao Shen War: Overcoming Jinzhou” (joint work), and “The Battle of Guandu”. In addition to his oil paintings, his ink paintings, such as “Hui Voice,” “Highlander,” and “Hearing Thunder,” have been selected for the National Art Exhibition. Many of his works are in the collections of the China Art Museum, the National Museum of History of China, and the National Military Museum of China.

　In recent years, from 2012 to 2017, he produced a total of 50 works in the series, including the large-scale “1946” (3m long x 20m wide) on the theme of the great repatriation of more than 1.05 million Japanese people from the port of Huludao.

Video of the production and exhibition of Wang Xiqi’s “1946”　https://youtu.be/YGZ_9YZ2M3Q

※ Chinese painter Wang Xiqi’s pain, conflicts, and wishes for us in the process of creating “1946”
　～ Introduction to the critique in China and overseas (other than China and Japan) ～

1) Introduction in China (Wang Xiqi: 用畫筆抒寫人類歷史記憶) (excerpt from Hiroshi Yoshio’s translation (undated manuscript))

2) U.S. Criticism: “The Great Expedition” by Bailai En Ma Keholan (Translation by Hiroshi Yoshio)

Special assistance
　Josai University

Support
【China】 Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Osaka, Liaoning Province China-Japan Friendship Association, Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, Tohoku University Art Institute
【Japan】Hyogo Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Kobe City, Kobe City Board of Education, Ritsumeikan University International Peace Museum, Ritsumeikan Confucius Institute, Japan-China Friendship Association

【Special Supporter 105people】

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