At first, noted contemporary artist Akira Yamaguchi had no desire to put his talent to work to promote the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. 

“I did not want to be involved in the Games and had no interest in it,” he said.

Yamaguchi had strong doubts about the ballooning costs, suspected corruption in Tokyo winning the bid and controversy linked to the new National Stadium. He also did not want art to play a supporting role in politics like in the wartime period, when many battle pictures were produced for propaganda. 

At the same time, Yamaguchi considered the offer to design a poster for the Games as a chance to depict “the circumstances of the host state.” The fact that the poster would promote the Paralympics, not the Olympics, helped to change his mind as well.

“Protesting from the outlying area will simply be drowned out by the festivities,” Yamaguchi said. “If that is the case, I thought I should raise my voice at the center of the festival.”

His creation, "Horseback Archery," shows not only a disabled female archer but also the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and radioactive contaminated water storage tanks.

The artwork is an attention grabber amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“Society exists so the weakest individuals can continue living,” said Yamaguchi in his statement. “People are apt to forget. The Olympics and Paralympics offer a good opportunity to remember.”

He cited remarks made by then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in connection with the Games’ bid, such as “the Olympics to show recovery” from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, as well as the Fukushima nuclear accident being “under control.”

Portraying Tokyo, Fukushima and the lives of individuals with disabilities, the poster for the Paralympics urges viewers not to forget the starting point, as preparations are made although it is still unclear whether the sports spectacle can take place amid a global pandemic. 

Earlier this year in January, the organizing committee for the Games unveiled the event’s 20 official poster designs. They are currently touring the country on exhibition, and “Horseback Archery” is among the works. 

“I checked the details and thought I bought the right one this year,” a user of a social media site wrote after purchasing a copy of “Horseback Archery” this past autumn.

The post received more than 10,000 “likes.”

Combining techniques of Yamato-e Japanese-style paintings and European drawings, Yamaguchi is globally renowned for his crane shot-like images. He provided his work for the opening scene of Japan Broadcasting Corp.’s (NHK) Olympic-related history drama “Idaten,” aired in 2019.

In “Horseback Archery,” a woman in a long-sleeved kimono with no upper arms flies on a horse and pulls the archery string with her mouth. It displays a woman oppressed by society.

In the backdrop are black flexible containers around the National Stadium and tanks holding radioactive contaminated water on a building. The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and the sea in Fukushima Prefecture can be seen in the distance.

ILLUSTRATING LIVES OF DISABLED PEOPLE

As his father worked at a facility for disabled people in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, Yamaguchi felt deeply connected to those with physical and mental difficulties since his childhood.

After growing up to be an adult himself, Yamaguchi thought “people with disabilities are covered up to be invisible from others in society.”

When Yamaguchi walked around town with his wife who had a broken leg, he found an elevator was located in a difficult-to-access area in a train station in Tokyo.

“I was disappointed at the reality of the host city,” Yamaguchi said. “I do not care about the noisy celebration (for hosting the Games), but where to invest huge sums should be contemplated.

“Society needs to be reformed from the standpoint of people in vulnerable positions.”

Such personal feelings and experiences of Yamaguchi are featured in the details of “Horseback Archery.”

Depicted in it are an individual painting a flower with their mouth, an elderly couple struggling to get over a 5-centimeter-tall step on a wheelchair and a sporting event at the facility where his father worked.

Goro-san, a person with Down syndrome who would frequent a nearby fishing spot during Yamaguchi’s childhood, appears in the painting as well.

“I know artistic productions are not placards basically,” he said. “But I put as many personal messages as possible into the work this time.”

According to Yamaguchi, “Horseback Archery” was created to tell about how affluent the lives of people with disabilities are; that society, not disabled individuals, generates handicaps in some respects; and that all healthy people could be put in a similar position at anytime.

With some 200 days remaining before the Paralympics, Yamaguchi questioned the current argument that presupposes the holding of the Games despite the continuing spread of COVID-19 cases.

“Promoting economic activities while taking anti-infection measures is like pressing the gas and brake pedals at the same time,” he said. “Steps against the coronavirus should be taken first of all.”

In the meantime, Yamaguchi hopes that if the major sporting event can take place despite all those difficulties, that may provide a big opportunity to change society.

“The Paralympics represents one of many scenes from daily life in town, such as how to ride over a 5-centimeter-tall step,” he said. “That will serve as the gateway for us to become aware that the daily lives of those with disabilities are closely connected to our own.”

Yamaguchi continued, “And hopefully, both the Olympics and Paralympics will be organized as a single sporting extravaganza with no separation.”