One is entering a bordello. Everything is in ruins in the first picture, but the second has a new building under construction in the background even while most of the people seem to be living outdoors. In the first picture, people are lining up at a wooden shack to receive rations. In the second, there is still no grocery store but fish and grilled squid are being sold on the sidewalk. In the first picture nobody is working, but the second picture shows a tiny spark of industry in a group of men who have opened an outdoor shoe-repair shop.
Life is far from perfect is either picture, but the direction of progress is clear.
These last two paintings tell us that, despite the brave images in the rest of the exhibit, things began to go right only after Japan lost. All rights reserved.