The Kyoto Archive of Art by People with Disabilities

Born in 1932, MIHARA Iwao had a hearing disability so it’s said he was good at remembering what he saw with his eyes. Growing up in Osaka, the experience of the air raids there seems to have left a strong impression on him. As an adult, he worked as a bookbinder and was active in social movements for the deaf. It is said that he became familiar with painting from a young age and published his paintings and poems in the newsletter of the Association for the Deaf. After he retired around 2001, he started creating paintings based on his own memories. A paper with a handwritten explanation is attached to the pictures drawn in detail with colored pencils. There are many depictions of the times during World War II, some of which show everyday life during the early days of the war when it was still peaceful, while others vividly convey the actual experience of the Osaka air raids. In addition to painting, he traveled to various places with these paintings and carried out activities to pass down his experiences. When invited to give a lecture, it seems that most of what he talked about was related to the war, probably because that was the theme of the lecture, but many of the paintings he left behind depict life after the war. He vividly depicts things such as work, housing, hobbies and travel. As a hobby, he seems to have been particular about taking pictures with a camera, especially of steam locomotives, and often drew himself proudly holding the camera. His series of works, which begin with memories of the decorations hanging from the ceiling when he was around two years old, and end with the scenery of the new town in which he lived from the beginning of the Heisei era, are a valuable record of his actual experiences during the war. It is interesting not only as a story, but also as a life history of a deaf person who was born in the early Showa era and lived in those times.