KORIYAMA, Fukushima Prefecture--New York-based artist Naoto Nakagawa made his fourth trip to disaster-stricken areas earlier in November in pursuit of his goal of sketching portraits of 1,000 survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, most of whom had their family portraits washed away on March 11.
KORIYAMA, Fukushima Prefecture--New York-based artist Naoto Nakagawa made his fourth trip to disaster-stricken areas earlier in November in pursuit of his goal of sketching portraits of 1,000 survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, most of whom had their family portraits washed away on March 11.
Nakagawa, 67, has so far drawn 829 portraits.
Upon hearing the news of the March 11 disaster, Nakagawa asked himself what he could do as a painter. The artist, who has lived in the United States for nearly 50 years, came up with the novel idea of creating personal replacements for people who lost their portraits.
He has visited Iwate and Miyagi prefectures since May and sketched portraits of evacuees and relief workers. In a recent visit to Fukushima Prefecture, Nakagawa stayed for a week.
His models included people from various walks of life, from "Hula Girls" at Spa Resort Hawaiians in Iwaki to people living in provisional housing, among many others.
One of the models was Tomio Fujita, a resident of Koriyama, who turned 100 four days after the earthquake.
"(The March 11 earthquake) was the first (of that magnitude) in my 100 years," she recalled. "I had still not recovered from the shock for two days."
Her face softened as Nakagawa's felt pen captured her image. But when asked about her grandchildren and their family, her look turned grim. The family had moved to Niigata Prefecture, worried about the effects of radiation on four young children.
"I miss them," Fujita said.
Nakagawa also sketched members of the badminton club at Tomioka Daiichi Junior High School, which is about 9 kilometers from the damaged Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant and located in the no-entry zone.
Known as one of the nation's top badminton schools, most of the members come from outside the prefecture, hoping to one day compete in world-class competitions.
Even though most of the students had returned to their hometowns temporarily after the quake, they soon came back and restarted activities at their new school, Inawashiro Junior High School, in the same prefecture. Inawashiro is an inland city some 80 kilometers from the nuclear plant.
Momo Hamakita, a third-year student and captain of the girls' team, is also from outside the prefecture.
"My family was concerned, but they understood my decision (to return to Fukushima)," said Hamakita, 14. "I’m glad to be able to practice with my teammates."
Nakagawa said he was encouraged by the cheerful demeanor of most of his models, despite their obvious travails.
"Images of Japan and Fukushima are often reported in a negative light in the United States," Nakagawa said. "I want to show the world the smiling faces of people in Fukushima."
Nakagawa hopes to complete his 1,000 sketches by next summer, when he plans to hold exhibitions across the United States. The portraits will be delivered to his models after the exhibition, he said.