Mural at Expo Depicts Town’s Recovery from 2011 Disaster, Made by Local Artist with Intellectual Disabilities

By Kotaro Hirose / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

6:00 JST, August 1, 2025

RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate/OSAKA — A massive mural by Asuka Tazaki, a 44-year-old artist with intellectual disabilities from Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, is on display at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo venue. The work is themed on the ongoing recovery from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which severely hit the city and many other areas.

His father, who has supported his artistic endeavors, said: “Through Asuka’s painting, I hope people around the world will send their love to the disaster-hit areas.”

The mural, about 8 meters high and 13 meters wide, is exhibited on the exterior wall of a building near the “Forest of Tranquility,” where many trees are planted, in the central area of the Expo venue. The work is an enlarged print of “The Path Through the Forest — Blue Forest,” his acrylic painting in 2016, depicting blue and purple trees, and yellow tracks symbolizing “the way to the future” for the recovering town.

Originally from Saitama Prefecture, Tazaki has intellectual disabilities and cerebral palsy. Under the watchful eye of his 78-year-old father Minoru, a metal engraver, he showed an interest in art exhibition catalogs around the age of two, beginning to draw various lines on paper.

For junior high school, he and his family moved to Rikuzentakata, where the parents of his 73-year-old mother Miyoko lived. After graduating, he attended a welfare facility for people with disabilities while capturing the nature and animals around him through his art.

On March 11, 2011, the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake swept away his home, along with about 200 of his works and painting tools. About a week later, when visiting the former site of his home with his family, he appeared to clench his lips, his body stiffening.

Even after moving into a temporary housing unit, he did not even try to pick up a paintbrush.

About three months later, his father suggested, “Try drawing people close to you.”

Tazaki then painted a scene of six neighbors who had died in the disaster, smiling in heaven.

“I think he had strong emotions that he couldn’t express in words. By pouring them into his paintings, he was able to organize his feelings,” his father said.

Five years ago, Tazaki was approached by Heralbony Co., a startup company in Morioka that deals in works by artists with intellectual disabilities, and became a contract artist for the company.

Since then, he has painted about 50 works based on the earthquake, including the “Miracle Pine Tree,” depicting a tree that survived the tsunami. He has gradually shifted to using gentle colors.

It was Heralbony that pitched exhibiting his work to the Expo organizer. The piece will be on display at the Expo’s “Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival 2025,” held through the closing day, Oct. 13.

Hiromi Kurosawa, Heralbony’s Chief Art Officer (CAO) who supervised the display, said: “The mural harmonizes with the forest environment [at the Expo venue] and reflects the Expo’s theme of ‘harmonious coexistence.’ I hope visitors will feel Tazaki’s vision for the future and the resilience of people recovering from the disaster.”

Tazaki said, “I can hear the colors.”

His father said that Tazaki was excited to see his work at the venue, sometimes asking, “When are we going to see it?”

The father said: “Asuka captures what he sees with his heart. I hope that many visitors to the Expo will see his artwork that is filled with the joy of painting and hope for the future. I also hope that people around the world will learn about the current situation in the disaster-affected areas.”