Kawada Kikuji
The Japanese National Flag

The Japanese National Flag

© Kikuji Kawada

The Japanese National Flag
The Japanese National Flag
ArtistJapanese, born 1933
CultureJapanese
Titles
  • The Japanese National Flag
Date1960–1965, printed 1989
PlaceJapan
MediumGelatin silver print with toning
DimensionsImage: 16 1/8 × 20 7/8 in. (41 × 53 cm)
Sheet: 20 × 23 3/4 in. (50.8 × 60.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Anne Wilkes Tucker in honor of Toshi Koseki
Object number2010.1896
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

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.




ProvenanceAnne Wilkes Tucker, Houston; given to MFAH, 2010.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Marked in pencil verso lower center:
The Map '60 - '65 / [signature] / The Japanese National Flag / Print by KK '89
'89 6-30
Signed in pencil on verso center
Embossed stamp lower right recto margin in an oval: KIKUJI•KAWADA •PHOTOGRAPHED

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Atomic-Bomb Dome, Ceiling Stain of Blood.
Kawada Kikuji
1959–1965, printed 1989
Gelatin silver print with selenium toning
2014.708
Positive flag
Alois Nozicka
1960
Gelatin silver print, bleached with toning
89.234
The Entrance of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Eddy County, New Mexico
Thomas Joshua Cooper
2000
Gelatin silver print with toning
2022.696
Ford Explorer, Kitt Peak National Observatory, Quinlan Mountains, Arizona, U.S.A.
Patrick Nagatani
1993, printed 2001
Gelatin silver print with toning
2004.2193
Flag Raising at Iwo Jima — Installing Large Flag on Mt. Suribachi
Bob Campbell, USMC
February 23, 1945
Gelatin silver print
2010.2250
A Japanese Tandem, Japan.
Griffith & Griffith
1896–1917
Gelatin silver print, stereograph
2004.1222.126