Kikuji Kawada came to maturity during the era of Japanese
reconstruction following World War II. A self-taught photographer, he
consistently addressed the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese
political consciousness, and the aftermath of the war. His 1961 solo exhibition
The Map at Fuji Photo Salon contained
a series of symbolic images, central among which was this photograph of the
Japanese flag, once an emblem capable of arousing mass fervor, now a token that
is deflated, impotent, and trampled underfoot, suggesting both the endurance of
this icon and its emptiness.