Paintings of Sakubei Yamamoto on Display in Wales

September 15, 2019

Newport, Wales- An opening ceremony was held Saturday for an exhibition of paintings of Japanese painter Sakubei Yamamoto (1892-1984) depicting coal miners in the first half of the 20th century, at Big Pit National Coal Museum in Wales.

Replicas of 15 paintings of coal miners in Chikuho, a region in Fukuoka Prefecture in southwestern Japan, will be on display until September 2020.

A collection of paintings and diaries of Yamamoto was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2011, becoming the first Japanese documentary heritage to win the recognition.

The exhibition was organized mainly by Naomi Suzuki, a Japanese singer based in London, as part of a project to introduce Japanese attractions and culture to the rest of the world in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Similar exhibitions will be held in London, Scotland and New York through next year.

"Holding an exhibition of Sakubei paintings at the famous Big Pit was a big dream. My dream came true and we greeted the first day of a world tour," said Suzuki, who is from Tagawa, part of the Chikuho region. Jiji Press