A bright red steam train runs along under a night sky illuminated by an aurora. At the bottom right of the image, a small girl in a sailor-style school uniform is crouching with her eyes fixed on the viewer. In 1964, when this painting was made, Japan was in the midst of a period of rapid economic development. Tourism became a major pillar of postwar reconstruction, and the Tokaido Shinkansen linking Tokyo with Osaka had just opened. It is within this context that the artist chose to depict a steam train and young girl in school uniform, immediately evoking in the Japanese audience the idea of a school excursion. But look closely and you notice the train lines have those yellow and black tiger stripes warning people of danger. So exactly where is this train headed? Perhaps these hazardous rail lines imply a critique of a Japan that was too focused on economic growth.
(OSAWA Sayoko)
A bright red steam train runs along under a night sky illuminated by an aurora. At the bottom right of the image, a small girl in a sailor-style school uniform is crouching with her eyes fixed on the viewer. In 1964, when this painting was made, Japan was in the midst of a period of rapid economic development. Tourism became a major pillar of postwar reconstruction, and the Tokaido Shinkansen linking Tokyo with Osaka had just opened. It is within this context that the artist chose to depict a steam train and young girl in school uniform, immediately evoking in the Japanese audience the idea of a school excursion. But look closely and you notice the train lines have those yellow and black tiger stripes warning people of danger. So exactly where is this train headed? Perhaps these hazardous rail lines imply a critique of a Japan that was too focused on economic growth.
(OSAWA Sayoko)