Photo/Illutration The artist known as Taikan stands in front of his ink and wash portrait of the late Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward on Dec. 8. (Koichi Furuya)

A Chinese painter who keeps his face hidden behind a mask to remain anonymous organized the first exhibition in Tokyo of his ink and wash portraits honoring 86 champions of human rights in China.

The 71-year-old artist, who came to Japan in 1987, said he wants the Japanese to learn more about the deteriorating state of human rights in his home country and about the courage of those who stood up to fight for their rights.

“The Communist Party of China is trampling on human rights, but it is trying to gloss over that before the world,” he said in fluent Japanese. “A growing number of people in Japan seem to be feeling terrified of China. I thought I had to rise up to stage a protest.”

A native of Shanghai, the man published his works anonymously out of fear of retribution. He goes by the pseudonym Taikan after Taikan Yokoyama (1868-1958), a master of Japanese painting, who he adores.

Wisps of gray hair showed on his temples between his black hat, pulled low over his eyes, and a face mask covering his mouth.

The 86 figures featured at his exhibition on Dec. 9-10 included Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who died in prison, and his widow, Liu Xia.

Among other subjects were Hu Jia, a human rights activist based in Beijing, and Zhang Zhan, a journalist who was taken into custody while she was trying to tell the public about the realities of Wuhan during the early stages of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“They are victims of oppression by the Communist Party administration, but they have not just lost the game,” Taikan said in an interview before the exhibition. “They are putting up a good fight. I portrayed them with respect.”

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Taikan, left, organized an exhibition of his ink and wash portraits of 86 Chinese human rights activists in Tokyo in December. (Koichi Furuya)

Many are broadly believed to have been taken into custody by the authorities. They remain unreachable and are technically considered missing.

The portraits are inscribed with text explaining the activists’ activities and biographies.

The “exhibition of ink and wash paintings on the circumstances of human rights in China” was held in the capital’s Bunkyo Ward to coincide with Dec. 10, which is International Human Rights Day.

Taikan, who lives in Saitama Prefecture, has accumulated the portraits little by little but otherwise kept to himself.

When he decided to show them to the public, his family members in Japan strongly objected to the plan.

His determination never wavered, however. The painter severed communications with his relatives in China so they would not “get in trouble.”

Taikan said after living seven decades on the planet, he felt a growing need to share his works with the public along with his feelings on the oppression occurring in his home country.

“I have grown this old, so I thought I should be more open about what is really on my mind,” he said. “I just don’t want to die in silence like this.”

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Taikan’s portrait of human rights activist Hu Jia is inscribed with Chinese text explaining his activities, with a Japanese translation available beneath the painting. (Koichi Furuya)

When Chinese students called for more democracy during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, Taikan provided support from Japan.

He has remained committed to improving human rights in China ever since. Still, the painter has “stayed behind the scenes and never came out to the fore” out of fear it could have a negative effect on his business.

“I hoped the Communist Party of China would improve in time, but it has never happened,” he said. “On the contrary, the situation of human rights has taken a turn for the worse.”

Taikan said he is ready to go anywhere in Japan to hold an exhibition if given the chance and disclose his name in due course.

“I don’t think it stands to reason that a human being is not allowed to show his or her true colors,” he said.

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