There is a shopping street in Mizushima, Kurashiki City, where you’ll find the “Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery.”
The Asagao Gallery is operated by the Mizushima Regional Environmental Regeneration Foundation (commonly known as the Mizushima Foundation). It exhibits materials related to pollution and photographs from that time, and opened in October 2022 as a place to pass on the history of pollution in the Mizushima region that occurred in the 1960s.
We spoke with Fukuta Kenichi, vice-chairman of the Mizushima Foundation and director of the Asagao Gallery, and Hayashi Miho of the Mizushima Foundation about the “Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery.”
The information presented here is current as of when this article was published in April 2023. Please note that it may differ from current information.
About the Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery
It seems that there had been a movement to create a pollution archive in Mizushima since the Mizushima Foundation was established in 2000.
A vision of Mizushima’s future, drawn in 1995 by pollution victims in Mizushima, also shows that they hoped to create an archive there.
At the center of the vision of Mizushima’s future is a speech bubble asking for an archive to be built.
The vision labels it a “Peace Archive.”
The entrance door to the Asagao Gallery bears the words “Kurashiki Pollution Victims and Families Association Asagao Hall.”
Asagao Hall has served as a place for pollution victims in the Mizushima region to socialize and relax, through activities such as shared meals and writing picture-letter postcards.
However, as the pollution victims grew older, Asagao Hall was used less and less.
The idea arose to “use the place that had once served as a gathering place for pollution victims to pass on records and memories of pollution,” and so the Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery was established at the site of Asagao Hall.
The location was not the only factor: the arrival at the Mizushima Foundation of Hayashi Miho, who has expertise in organizing, preserving, and making use of materials, also helped accelerate plans to open the archive.
“We were able to open the archive because we had all three conditions in place: a location, people, and materials,” says Director Fukuta.
The meaning behind the name “Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery”
The name Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery embodies the feelings of the people involved with the facility.
Although the Asagao Gallery is a pollution archive, when its name was being decided, local people apparently said, “Please don’t use the word ‘pollution.’”
The word “exchange” was also included in the name because they wanted people to feel welcome to drop in, without being intimidated by the idea that it was an archive.
Fukuta explained why “Asagao” appears in the names of the facilities, such as the Asagao Gallery and Asagao Hall:
It was named the “Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery” in the hope that it would be a place where local people could easily drop in and gather.
In particular, morning glories (Fig. 2) and taro (Fig. 3) are highly sensitive to ozone, the main component of photochemical oxidants. They show damage as white or brown spots on the leaf surface, letting us know that ozone has had an effect.
Center for Environmental Science in Saitama: “Does Photochemical Smog Also Have a Harmful Effect on Plants?”
Materials at the Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery
The Asagao Gallery exhibits materials related to pollution in the Mizushima region.
The bookshelves to the left as you enter the Asagao Gallery are packed with materials from pollution lawsuits, materials held by the Kurashiki City Pollution Victims and Families Association, and books about pollution.
On display are also medical inhalers used by pollution victims, envelopes from the “Asagao Survey” led by Fukuta at the Mizushima Foundation, and “Mizushima Memories.”
On the wall opposite the bookshelves are panels of photographs of Mizushima during the pollution period and of pollution victims, offering a glimpse of the local area and the lives of those affected.
The bookshelves were made together with people from a variety of backgrounds, including carpenters, local residents, and students from Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Kojoike High School, in the hope that the Asagao Gallery would become “everyone’s archive.”
Compared with typical museums and archives, the Asagao Gallery has relatively few materials whose contents can be understood at a glance.
It is an archive where visitors can learn by engaging with the materials and taking the time to understand their contents.
Fukuta and Hayashi agree that photographs are particularly difficult to organize.
Written documents record “when” and “who” wrote them, but photographs often have no record of “when, who, where, and whom” they depict.
Unlike modern digital data, the date and time the photograph was taken are not recorded along with the image.
As of 2023, they are documenting the people and places shown in the photographs by relying on the memories of members of the patients’ association and local residents. However, once the people who remember that time are gone, the photographs can no longer be used as records.
The materials held by the Mizushima Foundation are organized not only by its staff, but also by interns and volunteers hosted by the foundation.
Hayashi said she would be glad if anyone interested in organizing materials came to help.
Its connection with “Mizushima Memories”
The Mizushima Foundation publishes a book called “Mizushima Memories,” which offers insight into the history of the Mizushima region.
“Mizushima Memories” also apparently plays an important role in the archive project.
Pollution has often been discussed from the two perspectives of perpetrators and victims. Fukuta says, “Before Hayashi joined the Mizushima Foundation, we were working to clarify the relationship between those responsible for pollution and those affected by it.”
However, there is strong opposition to presenting pollution solely from the perspective of the companies responsible or the patients who suffered its effects, and sometimes people do not accept the information even when it is shared.
Hayashi explained the connection between Mizushima Memories and the Asagao Gallery as follows:
What people see about pollution differs depending on their position, so it is very difficult to understand it from just one perspective. That’s why Mizushima Memories weaves history together with local people, helping them learn about pollution along the way.
Even people who cover their ears so they don’t have to hear about pollution will make a special trip to the Asagao Gallery to pick up Mizushima Memories.
When learning about pollution, it is important to approach it from multiple perspectives, rather than from just one side.
“Mizushima Memories,” which embodies this approach, has become indispensable to the Asagao Gallery.
The future of the Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery
Regarding the future of Asagao Gallery, Fukuta and Hayashi agree: “We want to keep doing interesting things.”
We aim to make it a place where anyone who wants to come can drop in and use it freely, with an open mind.
For example, they are planning to create a space near the entrance to Asagao Gallery where local residents can put on their own exhibitions.
It continues to grow as an archive, bringing together people who can learn and take action together, and becoming a place where people gather.
It also takes part in the “Kurashiki Mutual Aid Pantry Project” as an initiative to encourage local residents to drop by.
As a place where people can see local history as their own and engage in dialogue, Asagao Gallery awaits many visitors at the entrance to Mizushima’s shopping district.
From the Writer
When you hear “pollution museum,” you may think you’ll have to listen to a lot of difficult stories.
However, at Asagao Gallery, you can think about pollution from a variety of perspectives through dialogue.
Asagao Gallery exists to weave the history of the Mizushima area together with local people and build its future.
As an “entry point” for learning about the Mizushima area, why not visit Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery?
Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery Information
| Name | Mizushima Shiryo Koryukan Asagao Gallery |
|---|---|
| Address | 11-12 Toei-cho, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Contact | 086-440-0121 (Mizushima Foundation) |
| Parking | Available Parking for 8 cars |
| Opening hours | Open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
| Closed | Saturday and Sunday |
| Admission (tax included) | Free Fees apply for training sessions and interviews |
| Smoking | Entire facility is non-smoking |
| Restrooms | Western-style toilets |
| Website | Mizushima Foundation |
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We use the name of a flower, “asagao” (morning glory), to convey that this is a pollution archive without using the word “pollution.”
Morning glories are plants that react readily to air pollution, and were used in surveys during the early years of the pollution lawsuits in the Mizushima region.
For the Mizushima Foundation, the morning glory has become a flower that symbolizes pollution.