Dower, John W. and Junkerman, John, Eds. The Hiroshima Murals: The Art of Iri Maruki and Toshi Maruki. Harper and Row Publishers, Inc.: New York, NY. 1985.

This book, which differs considerably with the previous, focuses on the artwork of two of Japan's foremost artists: Iri and Toshi Maruki. Together, they have collaborated in producing 20 major murals from 1950 into the 1980s. Their artwork serves to represent the atrocities and man-made disasters of the 20^th century. While the Maruki's work focuses mainly on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, some of their murals also depict the pains of those whom were victims of the atrocities of Auschwitz and the Japanese Rape of Naking. The introduction, which is the main text of the book, is a biography of the two artists and a commentary on their artwork. The artists lived in Tokyo in 1945 and upon hearing of the disaster at Hiroshima, where they had family, went to help the survivors. They witnessed first-hand the destruction and pain the atomic bomb had inflicted upon the population, images that obviously had a strong impact. Their main reasoning in producing this collection of murals was that the Japanese had no visual records or personal accounts of this crucial moment of their history, and they wanted to make a graphic chronicle of war and destruction available so it would not be forgotten. The rest of the book displays the powerful, haunting images that the Marukis created. Along with the images are short accounts or verses that seem to narrate some of the strife represented within the images.

While this book would not serve as a good reference unless one was researching Iri or Toshi Maruki, it is a powerful source of images that represent a key element of Japan and its post war era. The murals and accompanying short texts help one realize some of the pain many Japanese suffered from the war that affected their lives in the years to follow, which is critical in fully understanding the postwar era. I felt the book also was a good reference for some of the most influential art of the postwar era in Japan.

-Eloise Melzer