untitled (Battle of Midway), Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani

Mirikitani created several works addressing battles, imperialism, and militarism, including the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Battle of Midway in 1942, and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Many feature imperial symbols and slogans—such as the kyokujitsuki (Rising Sun flag), kamikaze pilots, and portraits of Japanese emperors—assembled in intricate collage. Viewers may find the presence of these militant icons and striking battle imagery in Mirikitani’s work both surprising and challenging. While they may reflect the imperial education Mirikitani received in 1920s–1930s Japan, their fragmented forms also suggest his complex identity, shaped between two imperial powers of the Asia-Pacific: Japan and the United States. Rather than reducing these works to simple positions—pro- or anti-war, militant or pacifist—we invite viewers to look closely and consider their layered, and possibly contested, meanings.