In a twisted era of nuclear weapons and peace
A scene of a steel tower and a cityscape
Drawings by an unknown artist.

I live in Saitama Prefecture, and in the vast plains that spread across the northern part of the prefecture, there is a place where countless steel towers, the arteries that carry electricity, stand in a jumble. I always enjoy looking at them while driving through the area, and I don't mind waiting at traffic lights. Of course, it's not good to look away while driving.

The drawings here are superior to the clutter. With each turn of the page, the depth of the inner self increases, and the spirituality gradually emerges. The deepest part of the inner self is on the page.I also begin to worry about the author, whose identity is unknown.

Painted in 1951-1952: Japan was recovering from the war, and Tokyo Electric Power Company and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation were established. This was a time when overhead lines (electric poles and towers) were becoming more and more common. Globally, this was the dawn of nuclear testing. This plant-like drawing also somehow seems to overlap with the nuclear testing. This drawing was done with charcoal, so the charcoal gets on your hands. The artist may have been so absorbed in painting that he got his hands completely black.

Text by Shigenori Tsuzuki